''Wizards of Waverly Place'' (2007-2012) is an Emmy Award-winning Creator/DisneyChannel [[Franchise/DisneyChannelLiveActionUniverse sitcom]] about three siblings growing up in New York and dealing with the typical problems all teenagers go through. The catch? [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin They're wizards]]. Shares some [[FollowTheLeader qualities]] [[Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch with]] [[Series/{{Bewitched}} other]] [[Series/{{Charmed}} shows]] and [[Film/HarryPotter movies]], but manages to distinguish itself with clever writing, and (in later seasons) a [[ContinuityCreep strong focus on continuity]]. [[HilarityEnsues Hijinks ensue]] as Alex (Music/SelenaGomez), Justin (Creator/DavidHenrie) and Max Russo (Jake T. Austin) try to deal with being wizards while not exposing magic to the normal world.

The show finished airing its 4th season on January 6, 2012, and boasts a successful [[TheMovie made-for-TV movie]] and ''two'' consecutive Emmy wins. This is one of only six times Disney has ordered a 4th season of one of their [[Franchise/DisneyChannelLiveActionUniverse live-action shows]], the others being ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'', ''Series/HannahMontana'', ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'', ''Series/AustinAndAlly'' and ''Series/{{JESSIE}}''. It is also their longest running live-action series with 106 episodes by production order - only ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', which runs episodes in an 11-minute format (and ran three more years, from 2007-2015), has more on the network.

TheMovie (simply titled ''Wizards of Waverly Place: [[CaptainObvious The Movie]]'') concerned the Russo family spending their vacation in the Caribbean; Alex makes a wish that goes awry due to magic and she must team up with her siblings to reverse the effects. ''Wizards'' also participated in a Massive {{Crossover}} Event titled ''Wizards [[Series/TheSuiteLifeOnDeck On Deck]] with Hannah Montana''.

The series finale aired on January 6th, 2012 with the Family Wizard Competition that will decide which of the three siblings will become the family wizard.

A one-hour TV special called ''The Wizards Return: Alex [[VersusTitle vs.]] [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil Alex]]'', reuniting the main cast of the show, was broadcasted in March 2013. Music/SelenaGomez not only returned to her Wizards role, but [[DirectedByCastMember was also an executive producer of the movie]]. Creator/DavidHenrie did not reprise his role, citing various reasons.----!!This series provides examples of:

* AbortedArc: In the episode Potions Commotion the stuckup character Brad Sherwood realizes that there's something very odd about the Russo's and he vows to find out exactly what it is. He is never seen again. * AbusiveParents: There's an example to be had in almost every episode, though usually played for laughs.** In the first seasons, Harper's parents are implied to be pretty abusive and the reason why she ends up becoming a member of the Russo family.* AcademyOfAdventure: [=WizTech=].* {{Adorkable}}: Zeke. And Justin, according to Alex.* AdultsAreUseless: Neither of the parents have magical powers, though Jerry did before. Also averted and played with as Jerry is often the one who has a fix for whatever Alex has screwed up, and sometimes is the catalyst for her screwing up.* AnAesop: Responsibility and loyalty are fairly common themes.* AffectionateParody: If you think about it, the series did not take itself seriously especially in the early seasons since they made references to Franchise/HarryPotter.* AliensSpeakingEnglish: In "Wizard For A Day". {{Lampshaded}} by the fact that they have no use for Justin and Zeke's "[[ForeignSoundingGibberish alien language]]."* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Alex and Dean, although they did break up - partly because it was a LongDistanceRelationship, and partly because Alex decided that [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy it wasn't working out]]. Of course this being a Disney show his "badness" is limited to wearing a leather jacket, liking fast cars and occasionally cutting class. Alex is the "bad" one of that relationship. On more than one level.** In ''Alex vs. Alex'', we have this:--->'''Alex:''' Dominic is evil?\\'''Harper:''' Is it weird he's even more attractive now?* AllGuysWantCheerleaders: What other reason is there for putting both Alex and Harper on the cheerleading squad?** [[GenkiGirl Harper being an overly cheerful girl perhaps?]]* AllMythsAreTrue: The show seems to be something of a kitchen sink fantasy series. Always PlayedForLaughs.* AllThereInTheManual: The show's website does more of an efficient job at explaining the functional magic rules and plots than the program itself does through dialogue.* AlphaBitch: Gigi, a snobby popular girl who picks on Alex and Harper.* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Justin saved Alex countless times and Juliet when she was kidnapped by the mummy.* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: In the series, Justin is always referred to as the superior to Alex. In the movie, however, which sibling is superior changes from one to the other.* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Alex seems to think so (and Justin has gone there himself, but not without cause).* [[AmbiguouslyJewish Ambiguously Catholic]]: There are St. Gabriel candles in the lair, and Max mentions that they go to church in the Werewolf special. Considering they're Hispanic/Italian that might be likely.* AmbiguouslyGay: In Season 1, Episode 3, the pocket elf has that familiar Lisp.** That's a case of the actor (Jack Plotnick) being gay in real life and using his real voice (which happens to have a lisp).** Also Stevie.* UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents:** David [=DeLuise=] and Creator/DavidHenrie, who are from California, and Maria Canals Barrera, who's from Florida, pepper their speech with a very subtle Noo Yawk accent.** Harper had an accent in some early episodes and the later ones.** Jake T. Austin is from New York so he has a natural accent in the later seasons.** Selena herself makes no attempt to hide her Texan accent.* AnchoredShip: The return of Mason (and to [[LampshadeHanging a much-better lampshaded return by Juliet]]) after "Wizards Vs. Werewolves" counts as this for any mention of Jalex. This looks to be a serious case of ExecutiveMeddling.* AndStarring: David Deluise.* {{Angrish}}: Jerry frequently lapses into this, which involves it being {{Lampshaded}} in one episode by Justin, who says that they can always tell when he is angry by him spouting gibberish. According to him, these rants often end in "ALEX!" while pointing accusingly at her.** Alex deliberately tries to provoke Justin this way. During the Stevie Saga, she replaces his jazz band with rock, all as an excuse to see him explode. It works, because Justin knows she's doing it, and that makes him even angrier.* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: {{Inverted|Trope}}, in the movie. It was more like an Anguished Declaration of Admiration/Desperation. Justin and Alex may have IncestSubtext coming out of every orifice, but saying they love each other is the one thing they refuse to do. This is {{lampshaded}} in "Delinquent Justin." They're probably saving the 'I love you' for a crowner in the final movie/finale.** Which didn't happen - perhaps because TPTB felt that having that happen would take the focus off the wizard competition and onto Alex/Justin - which is probably why they made Mason a StalkerWithACrush on Alex, and had her eventually get back with him ([[Literature/{{Twilight}} sound familiar, anyone?]]).* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Alex and Max.* AntiHero[=/=]AntiVillain: Alex Russo. She is self-centered, manipulative, irresponsible, and often cruel to those she loves, but she really does love them and will usually do the right thing in the end, even though "the right thing" usually means fixing a problem she created.* AppealToObscurity: Agent Lamwood uses this tactic to threaten the Russos after he captured them.-->'''Agent Lamwood:''' We make people disappear all the time. You didn't hear people still talking about Glen Goldfarm, did you?-->'''Jerry:''' Who? -->'''Agent Lamwood:''' Exactly.* ArbitrarySkepticism: Max believes in Martians - an attitude not shared by the rest of his family.-->[[LampshadeHanging "We're wizards. Why does everyone find it so hard to believe there's Martians?"]]* ArtisticLicenseGeography:** Most things regarding New York locations. For example, in the episode with a flying carpet, they are [[ChromaKey badly superimposed]] over Manhattan, where they see Shea Stadium. Shea Stadium, when it existed, was very much in Queens.** Not only that -- Waverly Place itself is about a two block street just off Washington Square by NYU, at least the portion that is east of Washington Square Park, and this portion is definitely nothing like the [[CaliforniaDoubling SoCal-icized location shown]]. It does continue west of the park, however, for several blocks well into the West Village, and the set depicted on the show appears to be a somewhat plausible fictionalization of Waverly Place in the West Village. Not overly so, but at the very least, it's probably intended that the Russos live on Waverly Place somewhere in the West Village, as opposed to the eastern portion of it, which in reality is bounded by nothing but NYU buildings and one or two non-NYU apartment buildings.*** The most egregious error regarding the actual depiction of Waverly Place is that it's shown as a pedestrian mall/walkway, complete with a ''staircase'' in the middle of it just before the entrance to the Waverly Sub Station. The real Waverly Place is a major thoroughfare for car traffic, like any other major street in a large city. Such a blatant error was probably done to make the set more friendly for television production.** Additionally, the area surrounding the baseball field in the episode "The Supernatural" has a little too much fauna (and not exactly specific to Downstate New York) to be located anywhere in the five boroughs.* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Usually irrelevant due to supernatural forces being at work, but also surprisingly {{subverted}} in that the Laws of Thermodynamics are maintained by stating that magic is fueled by an external power source.* ArtifactTitle: "The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex" is actually one. With Jerry already mortal when the series began, Max losing his powers and becoming mortal in the series finale, and David Henrie not reprising his role as Justin, Alex Russo is the only wizard returning for the special.* AskAStupidQuestion: ''All. The. Time.''* AssumedWin: Justin assumed he was elected Wizard Of The Year and started applauding himself and bragging about his delinquent class until he finds out the award is actually for Alex. Justin takes the news very badly.* AttractiveBentGender: Uncle Kelbo is [[spoiler: Shakira]].* AuthorAppeal: Todd Greenwald created Justin, Alex and Max out of inspiration from his own kids. Originally they were even going to have the same names. For example, in the first episode, Justin calls himself 'Jman', Todd's son's nickname.* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Justin and Alex.* BackFromTheDead: Commonly occurs with Stevie in FanFiction, due to the general dissatisfaction with the fact (and the way) that she died.** WordOfGod says that Stevie was revived and now lives in the Wizard World with two cats.* BadFuture: For fantasy writers[[note]]this includes [[spoiler:Harper]][[/note]].* BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad: In at least one episode, "Don't Rain on Justin's Parade--Earth", Alex is upset at the thought that she has become good under the tutelage of Mr. Laritate, and is pleased and relieved when he calls her an evil genius.* BeautyBrainsAndBrawn: Alex, Harper and Juliet. See BlondeBrunetteRedhead below.* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: When Alex asks a genie to stop people from comparing her to Justin, no one remembers who he is.** The reason for the plot of TheMovie.--->'''Alex:''' I wish you and dad had never met!* BecauseDestinySaysSo: In "Future Harper", the future Harper wondered if Alex's bad mood was because of Mason breaking up with her. A second one from 'Future Harper': She mentions that one of the four of them will reveal magic because he or she 'has a big mouth'. They blame Max in the episode despite the fact that [[spoiler:Justin revealed magic to the government and Alex suggested that they need to reveal magic to the world. Luckily the whole situation wasn't real]].* BecomingTheMask: Although Rosie was tasked by [[BigBad Gororg]] to pretend to be in love with Justin in order to manipulate him into stealing the Moral Compass for the Dark Realm, she genuinely ends up falling in love with him.* BelligerentSexualTension: ''So very much'' Alex and Justin.* BellisariosMaxim:** {{Invoked|Trope}} in one episode. (No, seriously.)--->'''Mr. Laritate:''' These people are all very excited to hear Justin lead a chant about how unexciting everything is. *pause* Try not to think about that sentence too much.** Alex paraphrases the Maxim in "Dancing With Angels":--->'''Alex:''' Look, we're angels. We've got wings. *pause* Don't look at them too closely.* BeneathTheMask: Behind her facade, Alex is insecure, dependent, and scared teenage girl, who desires to be accepted (somewhat by her peers and definitely by her parents, but mostly by Justin).** Harper's facade. Throughout the series, we see glimpses of truth where she hints at things that...are rather depressing for a kid's show...** In RealLife, Creator/DavidHenrie, Music/SelenaGomez and Jake T. Austin are almost the opposite of their characters, Justin, Alex and Max Russo. In the show, Justin is actually a [[TheKlutz klutzy]], uptight [[HollywoodNerd nerd]], while David is laid-back, boisterous and supportive, inclined towards the cool guy type, Alex is a {{manipulative| bastard}}, apathetic AntiVillain, whereas Selena is really [[MeanCharacterNiceActor nice, vibrant and open]], and Max is a [[TooDumbToFool big idiot, dumb enough to misspell his own name]], while Jake is smart and studious, much more serious than his cast mates, as seen in most interviews. Selena and David even impersonate each other in a live talk show, and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20Gs93HoPw8 the difference between the representations of their real personalities and their characters' personalities is quite striking]].* BerserkButton: Each of the characters have at least one.** Justin: [[BigBrotherInstinct Never break Alex's heart]]. If you do, he ''will'' have a word with you.** Max: Never impersonate him... without his permission.** Harper: Never call her a bad friend.** Zeke: Never mention there can be more than 3 meals a day in his presence.** Mason: [[UnstoppableRage Never try taking Alex away from him]].** Theresa: Never try and stop her from [[MamaBear protecting her kids]].** Jerry: [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Standing between him and food]].* BetaCouple: Zeke/Harper to Justin and Alex, and their respective relationships. Bonus points awarded due to Zeke and Harper being Justin and Alex's best friends, respectively.** At one point, even Juliet and Mason were a BetaCouple, due to the fact they had been in a romantic relationship, before each one became Justin and Alex's girlfriend and boyfriend respectively.* BewareTheNiceOnes: Both Justin and Harper have their moments.** Mason is pretty nice, too, as long as you don't hit his BerserkButton.* BigApplesauce: Generally played straight, since the show is set in New York, but subverted (probably unintentionally) in "Quinceanara" when Jerry claims to have caught Alex in the check-out line at the mall. There are very few shopping malls in Manhattan. [[note]]The other four boroughs, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island ''do'' have such malls as Gateway Center, Kings Plaza, Queens Center, and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the Staten Island Mall]] respectively.[[/note]]* BigBrotherInstinct: Played straight, and one of the foundations of the show. Justin enjoys Alex messing up, and usually puts on a winning, smug smile when he's told he has to fix her mistakes.** Happens a number of times in TheMovie, where she flat out admits that she expects for him to come up with the ideas on what to do.* BigBrotherMentor: Justin, to both Max and Alex, [[BrotherSisterTeam though mostly Alex]]. Also Link in the episode "Paint By Committee," as a slightly older mentor who teaches Alex the nature of being a true artist. At the end of the episode, Justin is shown to be the one who [[SoProudOfYou shows Alex how to be confident in her work]].* BigEater: Alex, stealing food from paying customers, emptying granulated sugar right into her mouth, keeping pizza and milkshakes in her school locker.** Jerry eating through containers with human teeth, stuffing the Wizard Family Robe with an unlimited supply of hoagies and even taking food out of the garbage.* BittersweetEnding: "Wizards vs. Werewolves" ends with [[spoiler:Mason being turned into a full wolf, Juliet becoming an old woman after losing her vampire powers, and Alex and Justin mourning over the loss of their loved ones]]. While some were unhappy with Juliet's death, most found this to be a satisfying ending that allowed them to go back to the more family-oriented storylines. [[DisneyDeath At least for a little while]].* BlackHumor: Used occasionally.-->'''Max:''' Hey look! The monster hunters left behind their equipment to help us. Wait, what are we supposed to do with this pile of charred bones?* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Juliet, Alex and Harper (featured in a few episodes). The thing is that all three have deep connections to Justin, the first being his {{canon}}ical LoveInterest, the second his sister, and the third his StalkerWithACrush.* BodyPaint: Justin, in the "Wizards On Deck" crossover.* BondOneLiner: Mason gets a great one in ''The Wizards Return'', when he tells Alex that he'll handle Dominic.-->'''Mason:''' Go on, love. I'll just stay here - and have a snack.* BookDumb: Alex. {{Lampshaded}} in one episode, in which the school is having an academic contest in which Harper is competing but one of the other contestants, Nellie Rodriguez, had to drop out:-->'''Harper:''' ''(to Alex)'' I wish you were smart. Then you could fill in for Nellie.\\'''Alex:''' I am smart! I'm street smart.\\'''Harper:''' But not book smart.\\'''Alex:''' I am too book smart! Sure, I don't ''read'' books, but I hollow them out and hide things in them.* BornInTheWrongCentury: The otherwise [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure reasonable authority figure]] Mr Laritate would much rather be living in the old west than be principal of Tribeca Prep. A spell that makes everything look like the old west (passed off as a dream of course) shows that he would have been an excellent sheriff.* BrainlessBeauty: A girl who was Justin's love interest.* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Happened to Justin in "Wizards VS Angels".]]* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Alex.* BreakingTheFourthWall: In some of the closing credits. Harper, in "Alex Saves Mason" after getting her kiss with Zeke interrupted one time too many.* BreatherEpisode: Usually after a major story arc.* BreathWeapon: Alex uses wind element magic from her mouth on Justin in TheMovie.* BrokenAesop: Alex never learns to handle life without using magic to get her way. However - ''she is learning...''.** The episode "Moving On" is all about how Justin needs to move on and be open to new relationships after [[ItMakesSenseInContext his girlfriend (a vampire) gets scratched by a werewolf (Alex's boyfriend) and]] RapidAging [[ItMakesSenseInContext sets in, causing her to run into the woods to hide]]. Near the end of "Wizards Vs. Everything", guess who comes back, returned to her teenage form and ready to date Justin again?* BrotherChuck: Gigi, the school AlphaBitch and Alex's archenemy, disappeared early in the second season and hasn't been referenced since (probably because [[CharacterizationMarchesOn Alex was becoming alot worse than her now]], so their rivalry had little point any more.)** Also Brad, who said he'd [[SecretChaser find out why the Russos were so weird]] then was never mentioned again.* BrotherSisterIncest: Played with, and unknowingly ''approved of'' by Theresa and Jerry, in "Justin's Little Sister".* BrotherSisterTeam: [[SiblingRivalry This happens rarely]], [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther but it happens]].* BuffySpeak: The kids do this sometimes. Especially Alex, because she doesn't pay enough attention (or cares) to know the name of things.* BumblingDad: Jerry has his moments.* BunnyEarsLawyer: Harper's intelligent enough so that cribbing off her and getting her to do her homework is one of the reasons Alex hangs with her but she is decidedly odd, especially when it comes to fashion choices. Although, in "Dollhouse", her ability to paint incredibly small things precisely (due to her fashion design skill - those are some very strange outfits) helps Justin make a nice chunk of change.* TheBusCameBack: The Wizards of Apartment 13B story arc ''loves'' this trope. Mason, [[spoiler:Gorog]] and other Wizards who've played large parts in certain episodes come back, and in the final episode, [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil reaveled thanks to a commercial on Disney Channel]], [[spoiler:Juilet comes back, although it may or may not be her, since it is Gorog they're dealing with here]].** On could also say that they came back because of ExecutiveMeddling, in that they didn't want to lose the Alex/Mason shippers [[Literature/{{Twilight}} to another franchise]] - and because TPTB wanted to stamp any hint of [[BrotherSisterIncest anything un-Disneylike between the siblings]].* ButtMonkey: Justin never gets a break.* CainAndAbel: Not a serious, dramatic case, but it gets pretty intense sometimes, even though it's not quite clear who is Cain and who is Abel in Justin's and Alex's relationship. There are episodes when Justin is angry at Alex, because she's easily forgiven by their parents and gets away with her mischief and there are episodes when Alex is jealous of Justin, because he's smarter, more mature and better than her at almost everything. She even made a wish with a genie that everyone would stop comparing her to Justin, resulting in the genie making everyone forget him. * CannotTellAJoke: Max is the reigning ''king'' of hilariously-inappropriate comedy timing.* CantCatchUp: Basically the entire point of the series, but mainly focused on in Season 3 and 4.* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Alex. When she does get away with something, it's usually just something PlayedForLaughs.** Even moreso with Justin, who even says in "Taxi Dance" that while Alex sometimes gets EasilyForgiven or [[KarmaHoudini rewarded rather than punished for the bad things she does]], he never does.* CartwrightCurse: The writers have played with our expectations by leading us to believe that Justin and Juliet, as well as Mason and Alex, might actually go the distance. Mason goes from werewolf to full wolf, and Juliet gives new meaning to "showing her age."* CassandraTruth: At first, Alex didn't believe Justin when he said that their Aunt Megan was just like her, but after Megan says that she doesn't like hard work, Alex comments, "Oh my gosh, she is just like me". Subverted later in the episode, when Justin rescinds his statement and points out the difference between the two of them: Megan never learned how to apologize or even admit that she was wrong.* CasualDangerDialogue: In the movie, regardless of whether they're hovering over a doomy canyon of doom, or trying to thread narrow walkways with falling pillars, Justin and Alex still find time to snark incessantly at each other.* CasualInterstellarTravel: In "Wizard For A Day," some non-magical HumanAliens cross interstellar space[[note]]We know they aren't Martian locals, because Martians aren't HumanAliens[[/note]] in a matter of days to ''get a milkshake''.* {{Catchphrase}}:** Harper yells "See you in P.E.!" when making a hasty exit.** Alex's "We're/They're gonna be together forever."** Alex: "Yeah...it was totally me."** Both Jerry and Justin: "But-he-you-she-ALEX!"** Theresa's "Knock it off!"* TheChampion: Justin, for Alex.** And Alex for Justin, whenever he happens to turn into a wolf or goes [[BrainwashedAndCrazy crazy]].* TheCheerleader: Subverted with Harper who is nice, smart and not at all slutty. Played somewhat straighter with Alex who can be a bitch and is BookDumb but also subverted in that she doesn't want to be one but was tricked into it by Justin.* ChekhovsGun: A future Harper is introduced in Season 2. She wrote books based on Alex and her adventures. Some of the things she says are used as plot points later on and guess what Harper's doing in Season 4. [[spoiler:She's writing the books]].** The fact that Mason likes to paint dogs takes on a whole new meaning when it turns out [[spoiler:he's a werewolf]].* ChewingTheScenery: In "Wizards vs. Finkles", Justin lampshades this after eating some [[HamToHamCombat enchanted ham]] by running onto the stage and asking the Finkles if they mind if he chews up a little scenery.* ChickMagnet: Justin. Gets lampshaded.* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Miranda, Riley, Gigi (and by extension, the Wannabes), the Monotone Lady, and Juliet's parents. Briefly Dean suffered this syndrome after season 2, before being brought back in season 4. Kelbo also doesn't appear in season 4, though mentioned.* {{Claustrophobia}}: Justin has it. Although he's [[InformedAbility never shown any signs of it]], especially when he was in the caves of the Stone of Dreams.* ClipShow: The creator stated they wanted to do one of these filled with bloopers, but ''Series/{{iCarly}}'' did it first.* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: ** Max is actually an interesting variation. In "Wizards vs. Werewolves", he makes a comment that implies that his Cuckoolander-ness may actually be intentional.*** In "Alex Tells The World", we learn he is a minor example. He's still TheDitz, but he exaggerates it to prevent himself from breaking the {{Masquerade}}.** Harper wears Music/LadyGaga-esque clothing, complete with meat clothing and fishbowl outfits she actually has to feed. That's not the weirdest part, [[spoiler:she comes from the future where everyone knows about magic to write about wizards in the past, taking Alex's stories and selling them]].** Alex also has ''moments'' of this (such as being so dependent on magic, she can't even zip her jacket without it), but she's more of a CloudcuckoolandersMinder for Harper.* CockFight: In "Wizard of The Year", Mason [[GreenEyedMonster is insanely jealous when beast tamer Chase Riprock starts flirting with Alex]] [[ThirdActMisunderstanding and refuses to believe Alex that there is nothing between her and Chase.]] Mason shows up late to Alex's award banquet ceremony to apologize for standing her up, but when he sees Chase sitting at the Russo table he immediately turns into a werewolf and attacks Chase causing a lot of damage. Alex breaks up the fight and ends her relationship with Mason not wanting to be with either of them for their violent behavior.* ColdOpen* ComedicSociopathy: Really applies to pretty much every wizard and everything magic on the show. Max shattering Stevie apparently didn't register with anyone as an accidental homicide; no one seems to see anything wrong with Justin creating a frankenstein-esque monster and setting her loose in school; and Stevie's sending Jeremy from Science down some magical hole to "no idea where" is purely played for laughs even though Harper implied he died. Compared to these offences, even though she's the perennial trouble-maker Alex's petty pranks aren't actually all that bad (especially since she invariably ends up punished or apologising).* ContinuityCavalcade: A lot of the spells that the Russo's have used over the course of the series come back in the GrandFinale, either as an answer to a quiz question or a spell that they use in the competition.* ContinuityNod:** In an early episode the action news weatherman is replaced by a new girl that Justin thinks is hot. Several times in later episodes he references her and it's her vision that he sees in the "Eye Of The Beholder" spell that shows everyone what they want to see.** At end of an episode, Alex asks Justin if he is curious about what she did to his cape and lightsaber. In the beginning of another episode, we hear someone telling Justin to pick up his cape and lightsaber at Lost and Found, to which Alex comments: "I can't believe they found out where I hid those."* ContinuityPorn: The writers take this show's continuity very seriously, as seen in Season 3. Although, they sometimes attempt this so much that they tend to mix things up. Justin confusing the Edgebono Utoosis spell with another is one example. In "Future Harper", Max refers to a pet lizard that ran away, with Alex and Justin inferring that it died. Later, in "Max's Secret Girlfriend," Max's dead lizard is his most loved possession.** Mason is pretty much a product of this. In "Future Harper", the Future Harper asks Alex if she had broken up with Mason yet. Alex looks confused, and nothing more was said about the subject. Guess who shows up later on?** Future Harper seems to be the hub for all plans, because she wrote books based on Alex's wizard adventures. Dozens of episodes later, regular Harper began to write a book based on Alex's life.** In the GrandFinale, [[spoiler:there are plenty of {{Call Back}}s to previous episodes, and there are a lot of spells that are used in this episode that have shown up throughout the entire show]].* ContrivedClumsiness: In order to expose [=TJ=] Taylor as a wizard, Alex knocks off his books and sarcastically says "Sorry I'm a clutz" as she does so.* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: ** In response for Alex always taking things from his room, Justin creates a female Frankenstine's monster which he names "Franken Girl" to guard his room, makes Franken Girl befriend Alex, and eventualy forces Alex to join the cheerleading squad.** During the episode "Dancing With Angels" Max (who has been turned into a little girl) refuses to tell his parents where Alex, Harper and Justin have snuck off to. His punishment? Being entered into a beauty pageant for 7-12 year-old girls.* TheCoverChangesTheMeaning: An odd example. The re-recorded version of “Everything Is Not What It Seems" is noticeably more spooky and ethereal than the original upbeat one.* CoveredInGunge: Alex covered in chocolate.* CrapsaccharineWorld: The wizard world is full of FantasticRacism, [[GrowingUpSucks only one wizard kid from a family can keep their powers]], any wizard who wants to marry a non-wizard has to give up their powers, and that's just the start...* {{Crossover}}: ''Wizards [[Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody On Deck]] with Series/HannahMontana''.** That crossover places ''Wizards'' on the same universe as ''Series/ImInTheBand''.** Interesting to note is that Music/SelenaGomez was in ''all three'' shows, but not as Alex Russo in the other two. Also worth noting that despite the supposed three way crossover, none of the ''Wizards'' cast actually interacts directly with any of the ''Hannah Montana'' cast. Though, since Selena Gomez does play Alex and Miley's rival, Mikayla, it would be best to keep the Russo family as far away from Miley, Lilly, and Robbie Ray as possible to avoid confusion and conflict. However, it would have been interesting to have Alex appear as Mikayla's look-alike, and see what might happen.** Hannah Montana and [[Series/ThatsSoRaven Raven Baxter]] appeared in ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' episode of ''That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana'', placing ''Wizards'' in the Raven[=/=][[Series/CoryInTheHouse Cory]]verse.* CrazyPrepared: Justin, usually played for laughs.* CupidsArrow: In one episode, Alex hires Cupid to shoot Theresa after one of her magical antics results in a fight between their parents.* CuteBruiser: Juliet.* CuteMonsterGirl: Frankie Stein who's just a cute, if very tall, girl with a rubber forehead attached. Also Alex and Harper when they're pretending to be werewolves in "Meets the Werewolves".* CutLexLuthorACheck: Played straight with Dominic in ''The Wizards Return''. His 'Dominic 1000' is a device that can replicate spells and continue to both cast and maintain them. Granted, it needed a powerful wizard to activate it, but that's because it had a world-wide effect. If he had just made smaller versions (the size of table lamps), he's got a device that's an encyclopedia for storing any spell that you could ever need and casting it on the spot, without using your own powers, and he could have made several fortunes ([[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney along with the power money brings to control the world]]). Of course, [[HobbesWasRight being the nephew of Gorog does kind of tell you where his mind was heading...]]* DarkerAndEdgier: As the series progressed, werewolves, vampires, mummies and Franken-monsters passed by, not to mention that [[AntiHero Alex]]'s magnificent NobleDemon skills developed and Justin became a monster hunter and a MadScientist. Oh, and Max [[FearlessFool lost his conscience]] for an episode or two. [[LiteralMetaphor Really]]. Not to mention that they apparently killed off Stevie without anyone seeming to care. Alex even made a harsh, sarcastic comment about her ''death'', then walked away happily.** Season 4 seems to be taking it up a notch with the "Wizards vs. Angels" trilogy.* DarkIsEvil: Played straight.* DarkIsNotEvil: Juliet (see OurVampiresAreDifferent), Mason (see OurWerebeastsAreDifferent), Rosie (after pulling a HeelFaceTurn), Lucy (see OurGhostsAreDifferent), etc.* DatingCatwoman: Justin and Juliet.* DeadpanSnarker: Alex, mostly. Justin, to a lesser extent, with the entire rest of the family having their occasional snarky moments.* DesignatedGirlFight: Alex vs...Dark Alex, I guess, and Mason vs Dominic. Slightly justified in that Evil Alex was Alex's clone. Weird in that the same actor played them.* DidYouJustScamCthulhu: In part two of the "Wizards VS Angels" special:-->'''Alex:''' We might pay for this later, but I think I just [[ManipulativeBastard manipulated]] an [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angel]]...* DiscontinuityNod: In "Max's Secret Girlfriend", when asked about what he told to Nancy, Max says that he told her about everything except the dragon dog. In "Curb Your Dragon", the Russo's adopt a dragon dog, but it never appears again.-->'''Max:''' I still have no idea what happened to that.* DisneyVillainDeath: Dominic, in ''The Wizards Return''.-->'''Mason:''' [[BondOneLiner No surprise. You all know I did not like him]].* DisproportionateRetribution: [=TJ=] Taylor turned his old girlfriend into an audult just because she was annoying.* TheDitz: Max.* DitzyGenius: Justin plays it straight as he excels in academics, but lacks common sense and holds the IdiotBall quite often.* DoesNotLikeMagic: Theresa even openly admitted to HATING magic. In the movie, that is completely true, in the series, it varies from episode to episode, sometimes she hates it, sometimes she is just being cautious, and sometimes she enjoys it. She also implied that she wanted to be a wizard too, so much of this inconsistency can be attributed to...let's call it "[[AllPsychologyIsFreudian Wand Envy]]."** Played straighter with Harper, who mentioned giving Theresa her 'I hate magic' T-shirt, and pushes Alex to learn how to do things normally (during Alex's TenMinuteRetirement from the magic competition).* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Alex's painting that resembled the symbol of anarchism in "Paint by Committee," Justin playing with his wand under the sheets in TheMovie, Alex asking Justin to give her his wand, Alex's and Justin's hug in "Dollhouse" and many more.* DoggedNiceGirl: Harper in relation to Justin.* DogLatin: A particularly painful sort in the incantations for the spells of the first two seasons. Eventually, the writers decided [[PainfulRhyme English]] would suffice.* DoItYourselfThemeTune* TheDollEpisode* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: Alex ''constantly'' abuses Justin, both physically and mentally. She's just joking around, but still.* DownerEnding: The first episode of Season 4, "Alex Tells the World". [[spoiler:Alex and Justin are found guilty of revealing magic to the world and are demoted back to Level 1 wizard studies, which results in everyone thinking that Max will become the family wizard]].** Everything that happened in "Wizards Exposed" was revealed to be SuperDickery at its finest, courtesy of [[TricksterMentor Professor Crumbs]] version of a [[SecretTestOfCharacter 'pop quiz']]. Even Jerry remarks that 'tests have gotten a lot tougher [[GloryDays since his days as a wizard]].* {{Dramedy}}: Some episodes of Seasons 3 and 4.* DrivingADesk: Played straight.* DropInCharacter: Since a lot of the plot takes place in the sub shop, it's easy for characters to 'drop in'. Harper was this until she actually started living with the Russos.* DroppedABridgeOnHim: This is ''Disney'' so you can bet they were not actually going to kill someone off (even a vampire) so instead they settled for sending the growing-in-popularity [[EnsembleDarkhorse Juliet]] [[PutOnABusToHell to ''hell'']].** The problem is ''they have. On screen.'' Granted, it's not graphic but people don't usually come back from being frozen and shattered.* DumbBlonde: One of Justin's love interests.* DysfunctionalFamily: ''[[SarcasmMode This night should be like any other family game night]]''.-->'''Max:''' I'm blaming the closest person to me. It's how this family works.** In "Wizards vs. Vampires," the parents are pretty sure it will be ''Harper'' who takes care of them in their old age. She seems genuinely happy with the idea.** Harper's family has been shown to be pretty dysfunctional too, but it's PlayedForLaughs.* DystopianEdict: The Contest.* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first two seasons, and the first season especially, look and feel like a subtly different show. Alex isn't quite as chaotic as she's normally associated with, mostly just being disinterested. Justin uses magic far less frequently other than during the wizard lessons, and if anything (on a network that tends to [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderize]] TooDumbToLive characters further into stupidity) Max arguably becomes more competent as the series goes on, reaching a point in Season 4 where in certain situations he's ''better'' talented and ''more'' competent than either Alex or Justin (with appropriate [[LampshadeHanging Lampshading]]). [=WizTech=] starts off as just one of possibly many wizard educational institutions (with the existence of competing institutions being implied) but soon becomes almost synonymous with the wizard realm itself. Professor Crumbs likewise goes from being merely [=WizTech=]'s headmaster to practically the supreme ruler of the wizard realm by the beginning of Season 4, with no transition and an attitude of "this is how it ''always'' was." And of course, the series becomes DarkerAndEdgier along the way.** The last two seasons of the show ''literally'' look and feel different from a technical perspective as well. Between Seasons 2 and 3, the show switched from standard def to hi-def, and a different company was contracted to handle post-production. Consequently, and aside from the change in aspect ratio, older episodes now have a weird, "washed-out" appearance when seen on Disney Channel's present hi-def feed. This also roughly corresponds with the developmental changes described above.* EasilyForgiven: Justin and Alex cycle through this. Lampshaded and inverted a few times.* ElectionDayEpisode: There was an episode where Zeke runs against Justin for student body president in an attempt to become more independent from Justin. Justin is almost thrown out the race because he's blamed for a school prank involving an abundance of his campaign advertisements.* ElevatorSchool: The only explanation for Max being in the same school as Justin and Alex since the show started.** It's even more blatant after Max gets turned into a little girl (apparently in the fourth grade) and still goes to the same school.** Although it may be [[JustifiedTrope somewhat justified]] by the fact that it's a private school.* ElSpanishO: "Honey, adding '-ito' to something does not make it Spanish!"* EmbarrassingFirstName: ''Herschel'' Larritate? ''Seriously?''* EmoTeen: Harper, behind her happy facade.* EmotionalTorque: The entire movie focuses on Justin and Alex relating to each other, confessing secrets, and getting closer than ever before. [[FromBadToWorse Then Justin got taken away]]. You didn't care that their parents didn't remember them, no one seemed to care when Max was taken away except Theresa, but when [[TearJerker Alex lost Justin and she started to cry for the first time in the entire series]]. You didn't care how it happened, you wanted Justin to come back.* EnemyWithout: This happens to Alex in the 2013 reunion special ''Alex vs Alex'' when she tries to act more maturely in order to impress her family by casting a spell to remove the bad parts in her personality and accidentally creates an EvilTwin of herself who breaks out of the mirror and causes mayhem. Fortunately, Alex manages to erase the clone by [[spoiler: removing her powers]].* EpicFail: Some of Alex's screw-ups are actually pretty impressive, such as using the Wizard instant-mailing key to make the entire living room disappear.* EstablishingCharacterMoment: In the first episode, Alex is introduced by [[ManipulativeBastard having her convince her dad to do what she wants with puppy dog eyes]]. That was just the beginning.* ExactWords: Wizards need to be very careful with what they say when casting spells because their powers take them litterally.* {{Expy}}: Alex is basically a female version of Hyde from ''Series/That70sShow''. And looks like she could be Jackie's sister.** The Alex and Mason relationship is very much like another relationship - and the episode where Alex met Mason's family (all of whom wanted to eat her) makes the entire relationship (after ''Wizards Vs. Werewolves'') seem like a bad rehash of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''.* FaceDoodling: In one episode, this is a {{Brick Joke}}.* FacePalm: Justin uses this a lot. And ''everyone'' has used this at least once when it comes to Max.* FailedASpotCheck: Used a lot.* TheFairFolk: Some of the wizards come off this way.* FallingInLoveMontage: For Mason and Alex, {{lampshaded}} by the latter and [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]].* FanDisservice: Alex's 'bingo arms'... *gag** FanFic: Since this is a show about magic, naturally this opens up the doors for every type of fanfiction imaginable. (''Warning:'' Most fics in this fandom are Justin/Alex fics, hopefully with a DontLikeDontRead summary. Although sometimes, even a story that claims NOT to be a [[PortmanteauCoupleName Jalex]] fic, ''will [[HalfwayPlotSwitch end up]] one anyway''.)** FandomSpecificPlot: Adoption fics. See {{Fanon}} entry below.** AlternateUniverseFic: Usually where Justin and Alex aren't related.** HurtComfortFic: This is a big one. In order to make the Justin/Alex plot make sense, usually the two are set up in a hurt/comfort situation: either [[DeathFic someone dies]] (often the ''entire rest of the family''), or they can't get over a breakup with a lost loved one (Mason and Juliet usually). Almost all Harper fics involve her terrible home life or [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation self-loathing issues]], and her latching onto Justin, Max or Zeke for support.** Other common ones include DarkFic (the 'bad Justin' from "Delinquent Justin" has ''nothing'' on the Justin in dark fics...), Child Fic (either Harper or Alex get preggo, and Justin is usually the father.), and {{Continuation}}.* FantasticAesop* FantasticComedy* FantasticRacism: Wizards have problems with both werewolves and vampires. Giants are more accepted but there are still offensive jokes.** Don't forget the Monster Hunters, who were prepared to hunt down Juliet and her entire family simply for being vampires, despite the fact that they hadn't hurt anyone!*** Except for the thousands of people they killed.** Well, Juliet is nice, but her parents are understandable...** They also apparently imprison tons of monsters, which is probably justifiable for some, but one that we're shown basically does nothing but be a DeadpanSnarker (the manual Justin gets says that's its only tool for survival. It makes you wonder if the wizards are paranoid or just jerks).* FantasticRomance: In every way imaginable...* FatalAttractor: Justin. So far there's been a vampire, a werewolf, and an angel of darkness. He's also been out with a centuar and a half-elf, which aren't so much as dangerous as they are [[AnythingThatMoves weird]].* FearlessFool: Max. Lampshaded in the Zombie Prom episode.* FelonyMisdemeanor: Stevie incites an insurrection in order to overturn the Council's "[[ThereCanBeOnlyOne one wizard per family]]" rule. Irresponsible rabble-rousing, or much-needed social reform? You be the judge.* FirstGirlWins: {{Averted}}, in that Harper ''never'' seems to catch a break in terms of landing Justin. They do, however, find out that they do make excellent friends - but things revert back, because StatusQuoIsGod. And now she's not interested anymore.* FirstKiss: In an episode titled after the trope, Justin admits to Alex that he never kissed a girl before. Alex then encourages Justin to have his first kiss with [[{{Goth}} goth girlfriend]] Miranda, which Justin eventually succeeds in doing. In the same episode, Justin deduces that Alex never kissed anyone either and mocks her for it, prompting Alex to have her first kiss with a random boy in school just to spite Justin.** In a later episode, Zeke gets his first kiss with Harper.* FiveManBand:** TheHero - Alex** TheLancer - Justin, as well as Harper** TheBigGuy - Max (sort of)** TheSmartGuy - Zeke, as well as Justin** TheChick - Harper* [[FourTemperamentEnsemble Five-Temperament Ensemble]]: Major supporting characters and a combo ensemble within the Russo family.** Russo family: Alex (sanguine-choleric), Justin (choleric-melancholic), Theresa (melancholic-phlegmatic), Max (phlegmatic-sanguine), and Jerry (eclectic) Mr. Laritate.** Supporting characters: Mr. Laritate (choleric), Mason (melancholic), Harper (phlegmatic), Zeke (sanguine), and Professor Crumbs (eclectic).* {{Flanderization}}:** Alex was a playful, mischievous, rebellious and snarky but [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold sweet jerk]]. Now she's a harsh VillainProtagonist, who takes advantage of everyone.** Justin was a collected {{bookworm}}, who never broke rules. Now he's an almost vicious SmugSnake MadScientist who uses magic to get revenge on Alex.** Max was a PluckyComicRelief airhead, who had sometimes witty lines. Now [[BookDumb he doesn't even know how to spell his own name]] and all his lines are made of one or two words that don't even make sense most of the time.** Alex's and Justin's innocent SiblingRivalry turned into a spiteful enmity that is characterized by revenge and scorn.** Jerry and Theresa, although frustrated with Alex's trouble-making, were loving parents none the less. Now, Justin seems to be their only child they actually ''like''.** Theresa has become increasingly narcissistic and self-obsessed, to almost Miss Piggy levels, so much that it has become almost the sum total of her character.* TheFool: Max.* ForeignSoundingGibberish: Justin and Zeke's "alien language". {{Lampshaded}} by the actual aliens.* ForgetsToEat: One of the side effects of the muse shell, as demonstrated when Alex uses it on Mason.* ForgottenFirstMeeting: Played humorously. Justin erases the memories of Max's girlfriend's parents to introduce them to Jerry and Theresa all over again, due to the first encounter going terribly wrong.* ForgottenPhlebotinum: How many major issues (Justin losing Juliet and Max becoming a girl come to mind) could have been resolved with the Time Reverse Spell and Undo Dust?[[note]]Granted, the Time Reverse Spell is implied to be dangerous, but the Undo Dust on the other hand...[[/note]]* FourTemperamentEnsemble: See Five-Temperament above.* FreakOut: When Alex's schemes are involved, expect at least one.* FreakyFridayFlip: In the episode "Quinceañera", Alex switches bodies with her mom to avoid her titular 15th birthday party. Which is okay with Theresa, who never got a Quinceañera and always wanted one.* FreudianSlip: "Alex Does Good" with Harper, "It's time I got some appreciation, Mom!" We also see this in TheMovie, when Justin lets slip that the reason he's always tried so hard to be perfect is that he's afraid that his parents won't love him otherwise. And Harper again in "Monster Hunters" when she's teaching Alex study tricks. She starts singing a mnemonic song and it turns into a rant on how Alex is a bad friend.* FreudianTrio** Superego: Justin** Id: Alex** Ego: Max* FriendlyNeighborhoodVampires: Juliet. Her parents - not so much.* FriendOrIdolDecision: [[spoiler: This is how Alex won the Wizard Competition in the GrandFinale. She was in the lead during the final round and was just about to cross the finish line, but immediately turns back to help Justin remove his leg from a plant he got caught in.]]** [[spoiler: Justin is also this in the same situation as he crossed the finish line and was just about to be crowned the Family Wizard, but refuses the position and gives it to Alex in gratitude for saving him.]]* FriendsRentControl: Nobody in New York, especially not owners of a sandwich shop that seems to be perpetually half-empty, can have a house, complete with basement, parking lot, and balcony in [=TriBeCa=]. Though there could be explanation in that Jerry (the dad) seems to STILL have some very big pull in the magical world. This would help with the situation.* FunctionalMagic: Formulaic Magic and Item Magic. It's strongly implied that the incantations mainly serve to focus the thoughts of the wizard on a specific spell and aren't strictly necessary.* GambitRoulette: One of the villains on the show was a shopkeeper who sold the kids a pet dragon. For some reason, Alex can't tell her parents about it. So she pretends it's a lost dog that they found, and they post lost & found posters. Suddenly the shopkeeper apparently ''responds'' to the posters and takes it back, claiming to have done this several times before. This way, he can sell the dragon several times to different people while getting it back each time. So the guy apparently planned for Alex, and everyone he sells it to ''ever'', to do something stupid like that. Either the guy was just a really devious shopkeeper, or you could just blame this on bad writing.* GenderBender: Max undergoes one in "Three Maxes and a Little Lady", thanks to a mutant spell cast by Alex and Justin. The end of the episode states that he will remain female for a while.** Also Justin in the episode 'Third Wheel' when he willingly turns himself into Alex to get Harper to work on the float. The fact that he has no moral hesitations about turning into ''his sister'' raises several questions.* GenerationXerox: Justin, Alex, and Max's sibling dynamic was revealed to be surprisingly similar to Jerry with his brother and sister. To cap it all off, Justin [[spoiler:won the Wizard competition, but gave up his powers, just like Jerry, though both the reason he did it and the sibling he gave his powers to are different.]]* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: ''[[Radar/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace Its Own Page!!]]''* GirlPosse: Gigi's friends.* GoneHorriblyRight: ** In "Positive Alex", Alex uses a magical marker to make herself [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin more positive]] to be a better cheerleader and impress her crush. It makes her ''so'' positive that not only does everyone get sick of her (including her crush), but she also gets the cheerleading team banned from cheering by cheering for the opposite team. Thankfully, the marker washes off.** In "Halloween", the Russos are under threat of having their haunted house privelages revoked due to their track records of disappointing stunts, so they try to find a way to make this year's haunted house scary. Alex then gets the idea of bringing Mantooth, Justin's imaginary character who haunted him as a child, into the real world to spruce it up. But at the demonstration, Mantooth does a '''very''' scary NightmareFace causing the Russos to be banned from making another haunted house.-->'''Theresa:''' Wait a minute! You wanted scary?! We gave you scary!-->'''Mr Evans''' Yes but kids wanted to scared, ''not scarred for life''!* [[{{Goth}} Goth Girl]]: Justin's first girlfriend, Miranda. Although, aside from the clothing, [[PerkyGoth she seems relatively un-Gothic]].* GrandFinale: [[spoiler:Alex becomes the family wizard. Professor Crumbs retires and passes on full wizardry power to Justin, who becomes the Headmaster of [=WizTech=]. Max inherits the family business.]]* GratuitousSpanish: Odd aversion - despite only Theresa being Hispanic (Jerry's Italian), they apparently never spoke it in front of their kids, one of whom is now failing Spanish.-->'''Theresa:''' With my help you'll be fluent in ''Español'' in no time!\\'''Alex:''' Great! What's es-pan-yol?\\'''Theresa:''' It's Spanish.\\'''Alex:''' Right, Spanish for what?\\'''Theresa:''' ''Ay caramba''...** In TheMovie, we find out that Justin ''also'' speaks Spanish - and although Jerry may not speak the language, he understands enough to know what Spanish-speakers are talking about.** The amount of Spanish has increased in later seasons. Theresa calls Alex ''mija'' (and so does Max when doing an imitation of her), but the kids still don't seem to understand her.--->'''Theresa:''' (running from a childhood monster) I promise I'll behave, Mama! I'm sorry! (Unintelligible Spanish)\\'''Justin:''' What's she saying?\\'''Max:''' It sounded like she was ordering a number four from Fiesta Express.* GrowingUpSucks: Only one of the Russo kids (the one who's found to be the most experienced) will get to keep their magic when they reach adulthood. Has potential for ChekhovsGun when combined with "Wizards cannot marry non-wizards" - Justin or Alex are going to be (a) non-wizard(s).** Everybody keeps talking about how Max stands no chance at being the family wizard, but [[TooDumbToLive Kelbo]] is the family wizard despite Jerry winning. See GenerationXerox and throw in the fact that [[IncestSubtext the producers recognize the Jalex fandom]] and... well...* HammerspaceHideaway: There is enough Hammerspace in Harper's suitcase that she herself can fit in it when it's closed. This came in handy for a "Series/TheSuiteLifeOnDeck" {{crossover}}.* HappilyMarried: Jerry and Theresa are actually a fairly realistic portrayal of how a happy marriage isn't a perfect one.* HarmlessVillain: Ronald Longcape's father (also known as Ronald Longcape Sr.) is very bumbling and inept much to the annoyance of his own son. While he did manage to temporarily evacuate the Wiz-Tech students by flooding the school with plastic balls[[note]]plastic is a dangerous substance to magic[[/note]], his overall goal wasn't to take over Wiz-Tech but to celebrate his birthday which he was never thrown. And when Ronald asked his father to guard the frozen body of Dean, he actually planned on eating it for his birthday. He eventually foils his son's EvilPlan in the end by foolishly exposing the frozen Dean to the Russos and Professor Crumbs. Ronald even said that his father's antics are the reason why they always failed at being an evil family.* HatesBeingTouched: Alex. Most of the time...* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Max does this one episode, repeatedly switching sides between Justin and Alex, depending on which side benefits him the most.* HeelFaceTurn: Rosie.* HehHehYouSaidX: In the episode "Future Harper", our teenage wizard heroes travel about using a device called the Inter-wizard People Porter. Max (and a oneshot character in Egypt) pick up on the fact that the acronym sounds like "I pee-pee".* HelpingHands: Justin creates a floating hand as a project to help the elderly.* HighSchoolDance: Many are talked about, but only one is actually shown in an episode.* HistoricalInJoke: While in 1957, Harper manages to invent both the poodle skirt and the sock hop. Max invents the high-five, but twenty years too early, so it ends up being called a "max" instead, which Alex considers a CloseEnoughTimeline.* HollywoodNerd: Even though Justin is a nerd, he is very good-looking and has little trouble with finding a girlfriend.** Lampshaded on one occassion with an exchange between Justin & Max, during an episode where he's dealing with a StalkerWithACrush:--->'''Max:''' Congratulations! I never thought you'd get in a relationship.\\'''Justin:''' What are you talking about? The werewolf girl, the goth chick, the centaur girl. I date ALL the time! Why is it that people never think I date anyone?* HowDidYouKnowIDidnt: In the episode "Wizard For A Day", as a present for Jerry's birthday, Alex gives her father both Merlin's hat (which can grant wishes for one day) and magically changes the restaurant into his childhood astronaut-themed milkshake place. Unfortunately, this attracts the attention of {{Human Aliens}} who attack them wanting Jerry's milkshake machine. The aliens are forced to retreat after Justin uses their weapons to shoot at Merlin's hat, which transform the milkshake store back into the family's regular sandwich shop.-->'''Alex:''' How did you know that shooting at Merlin's hat would reverse all of dad's wishes?-->'''Justin:''' I didn't. I was just really sick of that present.* HumanAliens: The aliens who land at Waverly Place in the episode "Wizard For A Day" to steal Jerry's milkshake machine wear silver suits and have dealy-bobs coming out of their heads, but otherwise look just like us. You'd probably see weirder things on an average day in New York.* HypocriticalHumor: In "Justin's First Kiss":--->'''Miranda:''' Do you know who makes video games? Corporate America. I hate Corporate America. I'm starting a club about it at school. We're looking for sponsors.* IResembleThatRemark: During the "Wizards vs. Angels" series:--->'''Alex:''' I'm not turning bad, you little twerp.* IdiosyncraticWipes: Possible ShoutOut to ''Series/That70sShow''.* IdolSinger: Music/SelenaGomez (Alex).* IKnewThereWasSomethingAboutYou:-->'''Alex Russo''': I knew there was something I liked about you, but this... this is genius. You are my new role model. -->'''Stevie''': Please, Alex. I'm sure this is something you would have eventually come up with yourself. -->'''Alex Russo''': Yeah, now that's true. I take it back; I'm my own role model again.* TheILoveYouStigma: Alex always hesitates to tell Dean she loves him. Instead, she ends saying "I love... this card" or "How do you think of me...in flipflops? Thinking about going casual this summer?" * ImprobableAimingSkills: Justin is a crack shot with an alien blaster he picks up off the ground. Could also cross over with InformedAbility.* InfinityPlusOneSword: The family wand. Couple that with the Forbidden Book of Spells, and [[GameBreaker well...]]** Felix's wand also counts, as it is the most powerful wand in the wizard world.* InformedAttractiveness: Just look at how cute Maxine is!* InnocentInnuendo: Well, non-sexual, but hardly innocent:-->'''Harper:''' What are you looking at?\\'''Zombie:''' I wanna have you for dinner!\\'''Harper:''' I have a date, jerk!* InsaneTrollLogic: Professor Crumbs demotes Alex and Justin from Lvl. 5 to Lvl. 1 wizards in S3E30 & S4E1, because they "told the world" the existence of magic. When, in reality, it was all an elaborate "test" Prof. Crumbs set up to determine who would crack under the pressure. That is to say, no actual mortals were involved, at any point whatsoever:-->'''Alex:''' So, you just made all of that up? Who does that?\\'''Prof. Crumbs:''' The boss man does.* InsultBackfire:** When the tutor for Max turns out to be a really pretty girl, Alex disdainfully tells Justin that guys are so easy falling for a pretty face. Justin just gives her a grin and agrees.** Also, when Justin snarkily suggested "A Night To Dismember" as a name for Alex's zombie prom, she decided that sounded cool.** -->'''Alex:''' As my first order of business, [=TJ=] why don't you go down to the hall and give yourself a detention slip?-->'''[=TJ=]:''' I'll show you a detention slip!-->'''Alex:''' Thankyou. That's exactly what I wanted.-->'''[=TJ=]:''' (beat) [[OhCrap That backfired.]]** Harper has ''rewired her brain'' so insults come across as compliments.* IntergenerationalFriendship: Alex and Mr. Laritate in the third season. Also, Justin and his peers.* InterspeciesRomance: Alex and Justin have dated many mythical creatures throughout the series; such as Juliet (vampire), Mason (werewolf), Isabella (werewolf), Rosie (angel), a centaur, etc.* InvisibleStreaker: In one episode, Justin is turned invisible by Alex's careless wording of a wish to a LiteralGenie. He strips off his pajamas so his parents won't notice him, leaving him naked in a room with his parents and his sister. HilarityEnsues as Alex attempts to prevent the parents from accidentally sitting on him, etc.* ItsAllAboutMe: Alex.* IShallTauntYou: Justin and Alex go back and forth with this trope.* IsItAlwaysLikeThis* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: An unusual inversion, in that Alex stays in the family wizard competition so that she can stay in her relationship with Mason (because {{Muggles}} and werewolves [[CrapsackWorld can't have relationships).]]* JackassGenie: In one episode, Jerry teaches his kids about how tricky genies are in granting wishes. However, Alex ignores her father's warnings and releases a LiteralGenie. She wishes for everyone to stop comparing her to Justin, but the genie does this in a way that everyone (except Alex) forgets who Justin is. When Alex accidentally summons the genie again with a "wish", she tries to fix her mistake by wishing for everyone to see Justin clearly for who he is. However, the genie uses ExactWords and turns Justin invisible. Fortunately, it turns out that the genie's lamp contains a literal reset button that undoes all of the wishes.* {{Jerkass}}: Everyone in the Russo family can slip into this occasionally, though Alex is this almost all the time.* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite her attitude, Alex does have her moments of kindness.* JustSmileAndNod: At the weird foreign girl...* KarmaHoudini:** Alex flip-flops around this trope. While in some episodes she escapes retribution, she is punished quite a bit.** Max, on the other hand, is now made of this trope. Hmm... make things harder for your older brother to win the family wizard contest by taking a book with every single type of monster in existence, release all of these monsters into [[CityOfAdventure New York City]] - and when [[RedshirtArmy all of the other Monster Hunters]] are [[CurbStompBattle killed by the hordes of monsters]] (not to mention God knows how many [[{{Muggles}} normal people]], not a word is said or anything done to Max. Hell, they were going to take away Alex's powers FOREVER for turning her parents and a teacher into guinea pigs... [[WhatAnIdiot but Max is probably considered not to be in the running for the contest, anyway]].*** Not anymore. Now he's in the lead.** T.J. Taylor is this, until he is caught for good.* KarmicTransformation: It is implied in TheMovie that Giselle's transformation into a bird was a punishment for her misusing her powers.** Also to Justin in "Beware Wolf" when he started dating a werewolf girl he met on Wiz-Face and repeatedly ignores his family's warnings about trusting people he meets on Wiz-Face, until he kisses her and becomes a werewolf himself.* KickMePrank: Theresa states that she used to attach signs on Jerry's back that say halarious things. Hugh's parents also do this to Jerry in the same episode.* KidAnova: Justin was this until Juliet came along.** Justin is still this - Juliet and Rosie were just stopovers.* KidsAreCruel: Max, at the beginning of the show.* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Gorog]] in Wizards vs. Everything. Also Stevie in Season 3, and [[spoiler:Dominic]] in ''the Wizards Return Alex vs Alex''.* KinkMeme: For ''just'' Justin and Alex. [[http://community.livejournal.com/omgjustinalex/ NSFW]]* TheKlutz: Harper. Jerry also could qualify.* KnightTemplarBigBrother: Don't break Alex's heart. Justin has [[TookALevelInBadass taken a level in badass]] since the end of Season 2 and [[TheMovie the movie]], and will bust out Capoeira moves on you as well as whatever magical explosions he sees fit.** Mason learns this the hard way when Justin refuses to let him back into Alex's life. He even goes so far [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome as to threaten Mason]], even though he's [[UnstoppableRage pissed off beyond belief in full-wolf mode]].*** The entire latter half of the 1-hour Werewolves special, Justin can be seen (whether he's prominent in the current shot, or in the background) giving Mason the dirtiest looks he's ever given. In fact, Justin is just blatantly pissed off in general, and it wasn't until Mason [[DisneyDeath was gone]] that he finally stopped being angry long enough to comfort Alex, and deal with his own loss.* KonamiCode: The spell used to go to the Bermuda Triangle begins as this.* TheLadette: Alex fits this trope to a T.** Stevie, even more so.** Alex's grandmothers seems to be a more elderly version of this:--->If I see one scratch on that bike, someone's gonna eat spokes.* LampshadedDoubleEntendre: Alex explains to her parents her new idea of a sandwich called "Meet Me In Turkey", then she turns to Justin and grins, telling him that he knows where she's going with that.* LampshadeHanging:** Alex and [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Mason]] are throwing water balloons from the roof to below residents, whom are not amused.--->'''Mason:''' We should run.\\'''Alex:''' No, we should have a romantic montage.** And when [[spoiler:the Russos are investigated by the government for being wizards]], a scientist starts asking questions, and the man says "you skipped all the questions you asked the other kid" and he says "excuse me for keeping it fresh".* LateToThePunchline: Max.* LatinLover: The chocolate elf.* LaughTrack: Except in the movie.* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: [[spoiler:At the very end of the GrandFinale, Chancellor Tootie Tootie says, "And that's our show, everybody! Thanks for watching!" Almost as if it, and the gameshow itself was directed towards us, the viewers.]]* LetsGetDangerous: Mason ups hs game in ''The Wizards Return''.* LikeASonToMe: Parodied and subverted in one episode between Max's conscience and his mom.-->'''Theresa:''' You're like the son I don't regret having!\\'''Max:''' [[SelfDeprecation Oh, she]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny means Justin]].* LiteralGenie* LiteralMetaphor:-->'''Crumbs:''' My hands are tied.\\'''Alex:''' You don't believe me, either?\\'''Crumbs:''' No, I mean ''my hands are tied''.** He then shows Alex he's handcuffed to his desk.* LittleMissBadass:** Alex is this, at least sometimes:--->By the way, we're having dragon heart for dinner.** Max, after he's turned into a little girl and proceeds to kick Justin's ass in karate class.* LonelyAtTheTop: In the movie, Alex wins the Wizard Competition and has Full-Wizard abilities, but this comes at the price of losing the person she cares most about and being left alone.* LongLostUncleAesop: Who? When? How? Not telling!* LongRunner: Currently (and likely for a while) the longest-running of the Franchise/{{DCLAU}}.* LooksLikeSheIsEnjoyingIt: Alex, at the end of "Dollhouse".* LoopholeAbuse:** Warren gives Justin a marker and warns him to keep it away from Alex (who tried to draw a mustache on him earlier) before fainting. When Max ask Justin for the marker so [=He=] can draw a mustache on him instead, Justin instantly obliges since he only agreed not to give it to Alex.** In TheMovie, Jerry and Theresa are about to go out and forbid Alex and Harper from going to an R-rated party they are underage for; and to make their word perfectly clear, they give them a rule not to leave the building in any way while they are gone. Alex then turns the restaurant's subcar into a literal subway so they can travel to the station where the party is without technically leaving the building. Unfortunately, it becomes a disaster when Alex has trouble controlling the subway and they almost get killed until Justin saves them.* LoveDodecahedron: Alex and Justin have a ''complicated relationship'', meanwhile Alex is going out with Mason, who in turn confessed his undying love for Juliet, who is also the current girlfriend of Justin, who Harper has a [[StalkerWithACrush stalkerish crush]] on but who may also love Zeke, and...* LoveLetterLunacy: From Alex to Justin.* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Harper, before her much needed CharacterDevelopment. This could also be said of Justin, ever since "Wizards vs. Vampires" - and is specifically stated as the reason [[LoveMakesYouEvil why Justin didn't dump Rosie]] when he found out that Rosie was [[TheDarkSide an Angel of Darkness]].* LoveMartyr: Justin with Alex.* LoveRedeems: [[spoiler:Rosie.]]* MagicCarpet* MagicHat: The hat that the Russo siblings have to wear when they are initiated in the art of magic.* {{Mangst}}: Justin, when he lost Juliet.* UsefulNotes/{{Mars}}* ManipulativeBastard: ** Alex Russo.** Justin in the Franken Girl episode, where he twists Alex's arm into joing the cheerleading squad (knowing she would hate it) and gets Theresa to acknowledge him as the "favourite" son.** Max [[ObfuscatingStupidity might be better at manipulation than his other two siblings.]]* MayflyDecemberRomance: Justin and Juliet. She may have been joking when she talked about Caesar but she's been to well over five hundred proms.** When she talks about her relationship with Mason during the finale of that arc, she says she loved him a 'long time ago' - 'Like, before America was discovered'. Which would mean that this trope applies to Alex and Mason's romance too.* MeaningfulName: [[RomeoAndJuliet Juliet]].** Tutor the tutor. According to Alex in that episode, parents in the Wizard World always name their children for jobs they want them to do. Of course, she says it doesn't always work.--->"My dad goes to a doctor named Butcher."* MediumAwareness: Alex declares the start and end of her FallingInLoveMontage with Mason, and in another episode, stops talking for about a minute to prove that comedies are unfunny without dialog.* MiddleChildSyndrome: Justified in that it explains why Alex does what she does (she's not only the middle child but a daughter), and inverted/lampshaded in the episode where Aunt Megan is introduced. (Jerry/Megan/Kelbo = Justin/Alex/Max.)* MirrorMatch: Alex accidentally creates a {{Literal Split Personality}} of herself in the {{Reunion Show}} ''Alex vs Alex''.* MirrorWorld[=/=]MirrorUniverse: In "All About You-niverse".** MirrorRoutine: Alex does a very poor version of this in the same episode in an attempt to distract Theresa from seeing her through the mirror portal. However, she breaks the ruse in anger when Theresa [[TooDumbToLive foolishly falls for the trick.]]* MisfitMobilizationMoment: Justin's delinquent class in "Everything's Rosie For Justin", when they do their wand drill. Subverted in that they all fail, because Rosie has no magic.** Also, that they all passed, because Rosie was never a wizard, and the rest of Justin's class knew what they were doing. * MissingReflection: In vampire Juliet's debut episode, there's a sight gag where she does her hair in her mirror that doesn't show her reflection.* MistakenForCheating: From the episode "Future Harper".-->'''Harper:''' I had my mom's [[PrivateDetective private investigator]] track her down.\\'''Alex:''' Oh, how's the case going?\\'''Harper:''' Oh, everything's fine. Turns out my dad was just sleeping in the car.* MomentKiller: Poor Harper, she tried so hard to get Zeke to kiss her.* MonochromeCasting: Aside from Theresa and her family, everyone is at least half-white. Considering they live in New York, this is a little strange.* MoodWhiplash: The show is a lighthearted teenage comedy without any serious consquences for anyone for years until suddenly Justin's very old vampire girlfriend ages to her real age and Alex's boyfriend turns out to be a {{jerkass}} and is turned permanently into a wolf.* MoralityPet: Arguably Harper and/or Justin, for Alex.* MotionlessMakeover: While Justin practices a time freeze spell, he puts a glass of water on Alex's head while she's frozen. This plan backfires as Justin falls to the ground, causing time to unfreeze, Alex to look down, and the glass to fall on Justin.* MotorcycleJousting: Happens in "Graphic Novel".* TheMovie: Okay, so it's [[MadeForTVMovie not going to be in theaters]], but it's still called "Wizards Of Waverly Place: The Movie".** The reunion movie, "'''The Wizards Return: Alex Vs. Alex''" also counts.* MrFanservice: Whether you like muscles (Justin), a nice smile (Mason), nice hair (Zeke), or a cute face (Max), this show has something for all the ladies.** However as a werewolf you expect this from Mason but he is probably the one werewolf in existence to never lose his clothing. * {{Muggles}}: Justin and Alex had to make plenty of explanations for the people who accidentally witnessed their [[IncrediblyLamePun magical antics]].* MuggleBestFriend: Harper to Alex. Zeke to Justin. Theresa to Jerry.* MuggleMageRomance: Wizarding law forbids this. Any mage who insists on pursuing a relationship with a muggle must give up their powers, like Jerry so he could be with Theresa.* {{Mummy}}* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In a show about magic, you bet your ass this trope is in use.* MySensorsIndicateYouWantToTapThat: G-Rated Version in "Wizards vs. Werewolves", in which Mason gives Alex a magic pendant that glows when the person wearing it is in love with the person who put it on them.* NerdsAreSexy: Justin and Zeke are [[HollywoodHomely some nice looking nerds]]. In an episode, a dozen of supermodels want to play "Dungeons And Dragons" with them, rather than parade on the stage.* NeverLendToAFriend: In this case, your sister.* NeverSayDie: Averted in the movie when Jerry says that every year two or three wizards go looking for the Stone of Dreams and wind up dead.* NeverTrustATrailer: The promo for "Alex Charms A Boy" makes it looks like Alex sadistically charms some random boy into falling in love with her. In the actual episode, the boy becomes her boyfriend the old fashioned way, and she only puts a charm on him to get him to paint her.* NiceJobBreakingItHero: ''Arguably the entire point of the series - and certainly TheMovie''. Justin also does this by [[spoiler:exposing the wizard world]] in the Season 3 finale.* NiceMeanAndInBetween: The Russo siblings: responsible and nice (but NotSoAboveItAll) Justin, sneaky and mischievous Alex, and Max is the in-between. * NoAccountingForTaste: Archie and Giselle in the movie.* NobodysThatDumb: In a crossover episode with ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOnDeck'', season 2 "Cast-Away (To Another Show)", Justin meets London by pretending that he's a doctor to gain her interest but he loses interest in her when he discovers how unintelligent she is. Even Max calls her dumb. -->'''Max''': That girl is really dumb. And that's coming from me. ** When Justin tells Alex about London: --->'''Justin''': I got exactly what I wanted and now it's terrible, because she's not so smart.\\'''Alex''': What do you mean?\\'''Justin''': Max thinks she's dumb.\\'''Alex''': Whoa. You gotta dump her. * NonuniformUniform: the outfits that the wizards wear for the competition and other activities 'in the field', so to speak, judging by the fact that Jerry (in TheMovie) also had a similar uniform.* NoodleImplements: When Justin asks Alex's advice of how to get rid of a girl and she tells him to use a road flare, a barrel of maple syrup and a mini-trampoline. Then she goes on to say that the maple syrup isn't for what he thinks.** To fix the lamp he broke, Max will need "A broom, a dustpan, double-stick tape, and small dog." The first three are {{subver|ted trope}}sions, as it's obvious enough what they'd be used for, but it's never explained what he intended to do with the last one.* NoodleIncident: In "Saving [=WizTech=] - Part 1", Justin is being mocked by Dean for being a teenager wearing a suit without any special reason --[[{{Muggles}} he thinks]]. Justin then replies that he could tell people he was going to advocate him, for what Dean happily answers:-->"Would you do that?! Great! Now we just have to prove I couldn't throw that thing so far..."** In TheMovie, we never do find out what it was Giselle did that caused her to be turned into a parrot.* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: In contrast to the above examples, Music/SelenaGomez makes no attempt to affect a Noo Yawk accent, and on occasion, her native Texas drawl comes through.* NotEvilJustMisunderstood: Superintendent Clanton was played as a bad guy (and was a little stern), but was probably better for the students than Mr. Laritate. He didn't fear Alex, didn't let Justin brown nose him, and even convinced Max to go to college.* NotThatKindOfDoctor: Justin Russo [[ParodiedTrope parodied this trope]] when he pretended to be a doctor in paleontology to impress London Tipton from ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOnDeck'' in a crossover episode. She stopped believing him when he didn't know what to do when somebody nearby needed medical help.* [[NotUsingTheZWord Not Using The D Word]]: In "Dancing with Angels" and "Wizards vs. Angels", fallen angels are consistently referred to as "angels of darkness", and their place of residence is referred to as "the dark realm." They are never called demons or devils, and their realm is not called hell. Furthermore, [[spoiler:Rosie, despite the fact that she uses Justin's love for her to get him to do bad things, is never called a succubus]].** Additionally, the ruler of the angels of darkness is called "Gorog", not Satan, Lucifer, etc. The good angels do sing "hallelujah", but that is the only reference they make to {{God}}.* NoImmortalInertia: Vampires who get scratched by werewolves lose their immortality along with the rest of their powers and become their real age.* NotWhatItLooksLike: In "Justin's Little Sister", where Harper leaves furiously, thinking that [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Alex and Justin are together]], because Justin "has already moved in".* NWordPrivileges: In the episode "Third Wheel", Alex and her new wizard friend make fun of media portrayals of wizards by donning pointy hats and beards. When Harper tries to join in the fun by holding her hair in front of her face and pretending it's a beard, both Alex and Justin tell her it's offensive.* ObfuscatingStupidity: In the Season 4 premiere episode, Max reveals that he has been doing this.* ObliviousGuiltSlinging: In "Harper Knows", Harper becomes angry when she suspects that Alex is keeping secrets from her leading Alex to consider telling her about her wizardry. While it appeared that Harper was guilting Alex on purpose, the trope was played straight in the end when Harper forgives Alex after winning the costume contest and thanks her for telling the truth. This final straw broke Alex and she revealed magic to her best friend.** Also happens to Justin when during the crossover with ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOnDeck'' he pretends to be a doctor to impress London. While on their date, London starts talking about many men who have lied to her in the past. Justin starts to feel guilty and tries to tell London that he isn't a doctor, but doesn't go through with it when London again shows how much she loves him.* OddCouple: Alex and Harper.* OfCorsetsSexy: In "Western Show", not only does Theresa say she likes the corset she's wearing, but then Jerry asks why he doesn't have one.* OminousMessageFromTheFuture: Harper of the future comes back to, first, write books about the wizard adventures she has with Alex [[spoiler:because in the future one of them will have told the World about wizards, so the books aren't all that interesting or unique,]] and, second, make sure that Alex has those adventures with her. In secret.* OnlySaneMan: Justin. Jerry also qualifies.* OrderVersusChaos: Justin vs. Alex, and Jerry vs. Kelbo.* OurMonstersAreDifferent:** OurAngelsAreDifferent [[spoiler:/ OurDemonsAreDifferent]]** OurCentaursAreDifferent** OurDragonsAreDifferent** OurElvesAreBetter: Everyone loves them, like babies, puppies and pizza.** OurFairiesAreDifferent** OurGeniesAreDifferent** OurGhostsAreDifferent** OurGiantsAreBigger** OurGoblinsAreDifferent** OurGryphonsAreDifferent** OurMonstersAreWeird** OurVampiresAreDifferent** OurWerewolvesAreDifferent** OurZombiesAreDifferent* OutOfCharacterMoment: More like Out of Character ''episode''. In "Alex's Logo", written by first time writer Creator/DavidHenrie, everyone is generally not themselves, and ironically the biggest victim is Justin.* PaintingTheMedium: In "Magic Unmasqued", Alex starts to have a flashback and tells it to go away.* PapaWolf: Jerry has shades of this.* ParentService:** As Jerry might say of his wife Theresa - '' 'Mamma mia!' '' There was even one episode where she had ''serious'' cleavage showing, and they blurred it out.** And in the movie he is [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar blatantly checking out her ass and even comments on it]].** The ParentService gets really blatant at the end of "New Employee" - [[UpToEleven just check out Theresa's dance routine]], and her 'Flashdance'-inspired last line: "And pull the cord!"** A recent episode features Theresa dressed as a schoolgirl, really proud of the fact that she was the most popular girl at school, which is explained by Jerry who says that'' [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar she was the first girl admitted in a boys highschool]]''.* ParodyMagicSpell: Most of the spells are either the last name of one of the show's creators and a made up word that rhymes, or exactly what the spell does, with a Latin suffix such as "ius" tacked onto the end. Those that aren't are probably {{Shout Out}}s of some kind.* ParentalSexualitySquick: The Russo siblings think this about their parents, which ironically Alex finds groaser than [[BrotherSisterIncest the idea of herself and Justin as a couple]].* ParrotExposition: Parodied:-->'''Justin:''' ''(on the phone with Alex)'' The museum? Paintings? A security guard? I should stop repeating everything you're saying?* PepperSneeze: Reference humourously when Zeke walks over to Harper and tells her it's time to take the next step in their relationship (their FirstKiss).-->'''Harper:''' Let me guess. You want to see if we can keep our eyes open while we sneeze. I'll get the pepper.* PerkyGoth: Miranda, who is about as un-Goth as you can get, personality-wise.* PetTheDog: Alex has had several. When she helped an old lady cross a street, when she helped Harper at the Loser Party Gigi was throwing and several with Justin as well.* PhlebotinumBreakdown: In one episode, the wizard power plant had gone offline, and the Russos had to go ''almost'' an entire episode without magic.* PlayingCyrano: Attempted very horribly when in the episode "You Pop Me And We Both Go Down". After Alex accidentally brings Justin's zit to life, the talking zit ''attempts'' to be Justin's Cyrano on his date to the {{High School Dance}} but messes the whole thing up by talking loudly to other girls and made Justin sound like a jerk in front of his date while doing so.* PleaseDontLeaveMe: Alex to Justin, [[spoiler:after he loses his memory]], in TheMovie.* PleaseDumpMe: Alex tries to get rid of Dean this way, but when it doesn't work she comes clean and he agrees to the breakup.* PluckyComicRelief: Max, whose dialogue consists of nothing but bad one-liners.* PortalBook: "Literarium terrarium!"** Wizard storybooks are an {{inversion}} of the concept: Rather than the reader entering the book, reading them makes the story become real in our world.* PostKissCatatonia: Zeke faints every time Harper kisses him.* PowerTrio: Alex (ego), Max (id) and Justin (superego). Also: Harper (ego), Alex (id), Justin (superego).* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Really driven home in the ''Alex vs. Alex'' special. Alex gets drilled, again, for being irresponsible and selfish by her family. Being depressed over this, Alex pulls a stunt that endangers the world, again. [[spoiler:She gets stripped of her powers, ''again'', for her actions. At the end of the special, she gives a speech about how ''only Harper'' appreciates Alex for being herself and not trying to change her. This ItsAllAboutMe speech actually manages to deem her worthy of having her powers again.]]* PutOnABus: Justin in the ''Alex vs. Alex'' special is mentioned heavily but not actually seen. At the time, David Henrie was working on another movie, but the scheduling conflicts were impossible to rework, so he chose not to return.* QuicksandSucks: Occurs twice in {{The Movie}}: First to Justin, and later to Jerry.* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Lampshaded in "Everything's Rosie For Justin" in reference to Justin's delinquent class:-->'''Alex:''' Now normally, I would be all for giving up without a fight, but this wand drill's too important.\\'''Felix:''' Come on, Alex. How's a ragtag team of misfits like us expected to beat the odds?* RapidAging: This happens to vampires when they get scratched by werewolves. * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Jerry usually qualifies, as does Mr. Larritate.* RecurringExtra: In the first two seasons, Amanda Tepe portrayed various oneshot characters, to the point that she earned herself the FanNickname "The Monotone Lady".* RedOniBlueOni: Alex and Justin.* RedStringOfFate: While not necessarily the romance aspect, it is heavily implied throughout the series that Justin and Alex are destined to be [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything by each others sides through thick and thin]].** ''"I'd never leave you"'' - Justin, at the end of the movie.** Don't forget the way Alex always ends up with her head on Justin's shoulder during [[IronicEcho the last scene]] in break-up episodes, mainly "Wizards vs. Werewolves" and "Wizards vs. Angels".* RejectionAffection: Harper isn't at all put off by Justin's disinterest.* RememberWhenYouBlewUpTheSun: Right before the wizard competition, Jerry listed Alex's many world-saving achievements as his reasons as to why he thought she would win.* RetCon: In "Alex's Logo", Mr. Laritate has mysteriously forgotten that Ms. Majorheely "texted in her resignation". This is due to actor Creator/DavidHenrie writing the episode, but that doesn't justify the error. The majority of fans have already [[CanonDiscontinuity shunned this episode from canon]] anyway, not [[OutOfCharacter without]] reason.* RightForTheWrongReasons: London Tipton from ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOnDeck'' stopped believing Justin was a doctor when he failed to offer medical help despite it not being the kind of doctor he was pretending to be.* RobeAndWizardHat: Seen in the [[AcademyOfAdventure WizTech]] episodes, but notably inverted in TheMovie, when Alex, Justin and Jerry wear combat uniforms that seem not only stylish, but actually practical, and look like something you'd see in a [[SpandexLatexOrLeather superhero film]].** Here's hoping that we'll see them in uniform again - [[ParentService perhaps even Theresa will get one?]]** Alex and Stevie jokingly don a wizard hat and matching beards in one episode.* RomanticFalseLead: The wind surfing instructor in the first movie.* RomanticRain: Alex and Mason share their {{First Kiss}} under the rain as Jerry watches them from the window above with a happy smile.* RuleOfSymbolism: When Justin and Harper find Alex who is painting in an artists alley she's painted her first initial surrounded by a circle. That symbol also happens to be the universal symbol for anarchy. Symbolic much?* RummageSaleReject: Harper. Her clothes have been based around such things as food and markers.** Harper goes beyond this and into crazy costumer, since she makes her own outfits.* RunningGag: Justin forcefully grabbing Alex's arm and dragging her after him to tell her something in private, or pull her away from a certain situation. The same for Alex, who usually snatches him to complain about her problems. Lampshaded in "Delinquent Justin".** The lamp on the bookshelf in the living room goes through a never-ending cycle of being broken, usually because of some use of magic, and replaced by a similar lamp.*** Which became a wonderful point of ContinuityPorn in ''The Wizards Return'', when she and her EvilTwin battle through the living room, blowing things up - but when they simultaneously zap the lamp [[TheWorfEffect nothing happens]].---->'''Alex:'''That's ''weird'', right?\\'''Evil Alex:''' ''Really'' weird.** They then both push the lamp over to break it.* {{Sadist}}: Alex, Justin and Max have shown shades of this in "The Good, The Bad and The Alex". See SadistShow below.* SadisticChoice: Humorously subverted in "Wizards vs. Vampires: Tasty Bites". Jerry and Theresa consider the possibility that they might only be able to save either Alex or Harper from Juliet's vampire parents. By the time of the confrontation, however, they've already decided to save Harper - reasoning that she's the one who will take care of them in their old age.* SadistShow: ''Definitely'' implied to have become this by "The Good, The Bad and The Alex". Not only do wizards have to give up their powers and [[SiblingRivalry fight their siblings to be the only one in the family to keep them forever]], but even Alex, Justin and Max Russo, the ''main trio of siblings'' in the show, have been shown to be [[{{Sadist}} sadists]] ''themselves'' who will joke about killing someone for [[DesignatedEvil holding a revolution to make sure no wizard ever has to give up their powers and consider them "evil" for doing it.]][[note]]For details, in "The Good, The Bad, and The Alex", Justin considers Alex to be evil after she joins [[DesignatedVillain Stevie Nichols]] in her revolution to make sure no one ever has to give up their powers, but then Alex freezes Stevie before Max can take a picture for their revolutionary flag and Max knocks her over, shattering into pieces next to her brother, who's unconscious after touching the power transmitter, which gave him a "Full Wizard" cap and tie and Alex reveals that she was just playing along with Stevie to gain her trust and remarks, "That's a nice brother-sister moment," making fun of Stevie shattered into pieces of ice next to Warren, who's unconscious.[[/note]]* SandInMyEyes: Justin's "allergies" start acting up when he gets sad.* SarcasticClapping: Justin does it one episode, after Max attempts to take out the garbage using magic and fails. (This is the episode just after Alex and Justin [[spoiler:have been bounced back to level one wizard training.]])-->'''Justin:''' ''(clapping)'' Ladies and gentlemen, the future family wizard.** And then a moment later, when Alex [[spoiler:declares she's quitting the wizard competition.]]--->'''Justin:''' ''(clapping))'' Ladies and gentlemen, the Russo family quitter. [[SarcasmMode We are an impressive bunch]].* SatanicArchetype: The BigBad Gorog is the leader of the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Angels of Darkness]]. It's not clear if he is The Devil, or a high ranking minion of his, or simply an {{Expy}}. He does show some traits of the Biblical Satan, such as trying tempting the main characters into joining him. It also appears his minion base is made up from people he tempted and fallen angels.* ScrewDestiny: Stevie and nearly 5,000 other wizards feel this way about potentially losing their powers.* ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers: Only Justin averts this trope.* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Professor Crumbs [[spoiler:gives full Wizard status to both Justin and Alex, despite the fact that there's a rule saying that only one wizard per family can be a full wizard. This is so Justin can take over his position as headmaster of [[WizardingSchool WizTech]]]]. The only reason he could possibly be allowed to disregard the rules in this manner is because he is the head of the governing body that created them.* ScrewYourself: Alex doesn't meet herself to do... you know what, but she still falls in love with herself when she drinks both halves of a love potion. [[LiteralMetaphor And her head gets big]].* SecondLove: Justin and Alex had many love interests.* [[spoiler:SecretTestOfCharacter]]: [[spoiler:The premiere of the 4th season revealed that the whole Government discovering wizards was actually another test by the wizard council to see if the Russo kids could avoid exposing magic. Alex and Justin fail miserably and end up knocked down to Level 1 Wizards, putting Max in the lead of the competition.]]** [[spoiler:In "Who Will Be The Family Wizard?", it turns out the cancelling the competition was this as well. The Wizard Council wanted to know whether the Russo family bond could survive the loss of magic. It did.]]* SecurityCling: Alex to Justin numerous times throughout the series.* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Zeke and Justin, even though both of them are {{bookworm}}s.* SeriesContinuityError:** In the episode "Art Teacher", Mr. Laritate is surprised that his phone gets text messages when a teacher "texted in her resignation". In a later episode, he apparently still doesn't know what a text message is.** In the episode "Monster Hunter", Jerry says that he remembers when Justin was still turning bricks into rabbits and Justin nostalgically responds "Edgebono Utoosis". However, in "The Crazy 10 Minute Sale", it's shown that "Edgebono Utoosis" is a spell to create a duplicate of whatever it's cast on. Not to mention Justin never turned a brick into anything. He duplicated a rabbit, and in a totally different episode, Alex turned a dove into a brick.** A recent episode had Alex say that every wizard learns the zombie language when they're little, but an earlier episode established she didn't know she was a wizard when she was little.** In "Make it Happen", Jerry says his father was a rodeo clown, but in "Rock Around the Clock", Grandpa Russo clearly owns the sandwich shop.* SeriousBusiness: Anything and everything that interests Justin.* ShesNotMyGirlfriend: In "Family Game Night".* ShipTease: A ''lot'' between Justin and Alex, but the most blatant ship teasing would be in ''Max's Secret Girlfriend'', where Justin and Alex willingly pretend to be married with three kids. Bonus points awarded for them getting into a heated argument, and then snapping back into 'loving' mode, just like actual married couples.* ShirtlessScene: Justin gets one in the "Wizards [[Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody On Deck]] with Series/HannahMontana" crossover.* ShouldntWeBeInSchoolRightNow: Surprisingly almost completely {{Averted|Trope}}. A huge chunk of the series has at least a few scenes that take place at or deals with Tribeca Prep, the "{{Muggle}}" high school the Russos attend, or [=WizTech=], the Wizard World equivalent. And the Russos attended their wizard homeschooling (or in the case of Justin in the final season, ''taught'' wizard classes) roughly OnceAnEpisode.* ShoutOut:** To Bono and Harry Potter.** Alex's boyfriend's name is [[Creator/JamesDean Dean]] [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Moriarty]].** The Principal's name is Mr. Larritate. Larry Tate was Darrin's boss on ''Series/{{Bewitched}}''. Similarly, Alex's art teacher, Ms. Majorhealey, is named for an ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie'' character.** From the vampire special, could they get any less subtle than naming the girl [[RomeoAndJuliet Juliet]]?** To Music/MichaelJackson in "Wizards and Vampires vs. Zombies":--->'''Female Zombie:''' One music video and we're expected to dance battle everywhere.** In "Franken Girl", Justin brings his creation to life using [[Film/BackToTheFuture 1.21 gigawatts]] of electricity.** Leave it Justin to nerd up a ''Film/{{Scarface 1983}}'' reference:--->'''Justin:''' (bad fake Cuban accent): Say hello to my little surge protector!** From the taxi episode: the cab company is called [[Series/{{Taxi}} the Sunshine Cab Company]].*** Also, the cabbies resemble most of the main characters of that show, and Cab 804 was the subject of a two part episode.*** Specifically, there was an episode where cab driver Alex Reiger had to deliver a baby in the back of his cab and the parents wanted to name the infant after him. The exact circumstances of Alex Russo's birth.** Jerry talks about his childhood, hanging out with [[Film/TheBreakfastClub John Bender]] and [[Film/TheOutsiders Ponyboy]]. Ponyboy gets mentioned again in a later episode, along another friend, [[StarWars Ben Kenobi]].** Notice how the [[Literature/HarryPotter portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Russo is moving]] in the theme song.** This little gem.--->'''Justin:''' We have to be ready for the robot uprising, They'll rebel, they'll evolve, and [[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 They'll have a plan!]]** To Literature/HarryPotter in "Saving [=WizTech=]".** To ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' in "Wizards vs. Vampires" and "[[Literature/NewMoon Wizards vs. Werewolves]]".** Mason shares the same last name as another british werewolf, [[Literature/HarryPotter Fenrir Greyback]].** The spell to create an outlaw in the Old West dream Alex created is "Bad bad Leroy Brown, run Laritate out of town", a reference to an old Jim Croce song.** The name of the BaseballEpisode: [[Film/TheNatural The Supernatural]].** The name Harper Finkle could be a ShoutOut to [[Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch Harvey Kinkle]].** More Sabrina Shout-Outs: Plastic being the weakness of magic and a SecretChaser named Brad who suffers from ChuckCunninghamSyndrome.** The spell to have a picture frame show you what's happening in other places is a reference to Music/DuranDuran.** In "Hugh's Not Normous", Alex and Justin mimic an exchange from ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'':--->'''Justin:''' What was that ruckus?"\\'''Alex:''' What ruckus?\\'''Justin:''' I heard a ruckus.\\'''Alex:''' Can you describe the ruckus?** The 'Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide' spell is supposed to be done in front of a mirror, which would make your reflection your conscience. [[WesternAnimation/PepperAnn Who else]] do we know who has their reflection act as their conscience ...** In "Potion Commotion", Justin's rival /Alex's love interest is named [[Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway Brad Sherwood]].** In a very odd shout-out combined with FreezeFrameBonus, it's recently been discovered that the logo of the Wiki/SCPFoundation can [[http://imgur.com/ICA2bC9 apparently be seen on an arcade cabinet]] in the episode "Movies". * ShownTheirWork: In the episode where Jerry teaches Alex to fly a magic carpet, Jerry tells her never to fly into any clouds because she can become disoriented in them. Despite Alex's protests that there's nothing to run into inside a cloud, this is exactly what they tell real-life pilot trainees (either running into another aircraft or becoming disoriented enough to actually run into the ground).* SiblingRivalry* SkirtOverSlacks: Alex's wardrobe frequently consists of this.* SlapSlapKiss: Justin and Alex are constantly making fun of each other, but will (almost) always make up in the end. Due to RelationshipWritingFumble most fans have actually [[BrotherSisterIncest stopped seeing them as siblings]].-->'''Wowp creator:''' Oh my gosh, we got a Jalex question.\\'''Fan:''' Are Justin and Alex going to end up together?\\'''Wowp creator:''' (Laughs) They are ''[[{{Squick}} brother and sister]]'', PEOPLE.* SlashFic* TheSlowWalk: Parodied in "Wizards Vs Asteroid".* SmartPeoplePlayChess: In the episode "Make it Happen", the Russo's kids have to choose an alternate career in the case of they don't become wizards. Justin's first idea is to make money by traveling the world defeating robots at chess.* SmugSnake: Justin occasionally in the series, much more so in the movie although he gets better. Alex more than a few times too.* SomethingWeForgot: In TheMovie, Max turns a woman into a dog to dissuade Max from hitting on her. They chat for a while and then part with Max feeling like he is forgetting something. He forgot to turn the dog back into a human.* SpaghettiKiss: In the episode "Wizards vs. Werewolves", Alex and Mason attempt to do this with a sub sandwich, since Alex thought it would be romantic. When Mason points out how gross it is, they decide to skip straight to the kiss, before being [[AlmostKiss rudely interrupted when Harper alerts Theresa]].* SpicyLatina: Theresa, when the mood strikes her. Averted with Alex who's too all-American to fit this.* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Series/PhilOfTheFuture'', in the sense that it's Disney's current show with supernatural/magical elements. It's been said that the money Disney gained from the success of ''Phil'' was used to create ''Wizards''.** It also seems that [[LabRats Lab Rats]] is starting to take this role for ''Wizards.'' Both share the same director as well as some of the crew, and both are also about a family keeping special powers a secret while trying to fit into normal lives and occasional adventures.** To ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' as well. Both series takes place in New York City, have a supernatural/fantasy theme,their big secret is their supernatural powers, and have some of the same writers.* SpitTake: Justin and Jerry do this a lot.** Also Kelbo, who announces them, and goes out of his way to do them.--->'''Kelbo:''' Usually when a guy goes to get a glass and does a spit take, it says suprise!* SquirrelsInMyPants: The charmed trophyman from "Pop me and We Both Go Down" invokes this to escape from Max. Max's line after this is also a CrowningMomentOfFunny-->'''Max:''' Hey, my underwear!! Hey! You know what? I was wearing those for ten straight days!! (runs after the trophyman)* StalkerWithACrush: Harper with Justin. She actually somewhat lampshades this by once dumping soda over his head after spying on him and his date at a movie theater, saying "Just because I'm your girlfriend and you don't know it doesn't mean you can cheat on me!"** She made him a '''sweater''' out of her own ''hair''.** A more serious and frightening example is Mason towards Alex.* StationaryWings: Wings do not flap when flying. There's even a spare set in the angel's disembarkment agency "sitting around, just in case."** GoodWingsEvilWings deserves to be a subtrope of this since feather color, stated to be a distinguishing angel trait, is not a permanent quality.* StatusQuoIsGod: This show is very good at avoiding this, given its strong sense of continuity. The only instance where this trope was invoked was with the dragon dog.* StayingWithFriends: Harper moves in with her best friend Alex when her parents (conveniently) move out of town.* StealingFromTheHotel: In an episode Teresa and Jerry go away for their anniversary weekend. When they check on the kids at home they see that they're causing havoc and Teresa tells Jerry to "grab the towels, I'll get the bath soap" as they're hurrying out of the hotel.* StepfordSmiler: Again, Harper big time.* StraightMan: Justin.* StrawLoser: Harper.* StrictlyFormula: To a point. However, when maximum possible mileage has been obtained from a gag (eg: Harper being in the dark about magic), they stop doing it.* StupidSexyFlanders: Anyone who is an elf has this effect on people.* SuddenSchoolUniform: This is enforced as a form of discipline.* SugarAndIceGirl: Alex.* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial-->'''Alex:''' No, I'm not. Harper, am I a wizard?\\'''Harper:''' Alex? A wizard? Please! It's not like she's got a magic flying carpet or can duplicate herself or knows a spell that can make a really klutzy person not klutzy when they work at their sandwich shop. If she was a wizard, she could do those things, but she doesn't, so she isn't.\\'''Maxine:''' Hey, Professor Crumbs!\\'''Professor Crumbs:''' Who's that adorable little girl?\\'''Alex:''' It's not Max 'cause Max is a boy!* TakeThat: InUniverse. Harper's puppet show to Alex.* TakeThatAudience: In the finale, Alex says she put peanut butter on the outside of a sandwich because "that's what a [[PeripheryDemographic 40-year old]] gets for ordering off [[KidCom the kid's menu]]."* TakeThatKiss: Alex, to Justin. No... not [[BrotherSisterIncest like that...]] Alex kisses another boy in front of Justin, to prove a point.* TelephoneTeleport: A few episodes had the wizards travel this way.* TemporaryLoveInterest: This show thrives on this. Although some love interests last a couple episodes or so, there are still a few who only manage to last one.* TerribleTrio: Gigi and her friends.* TheNthDoctor: Max's transformation into a little girl.* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: Justin, in trying to activate the manual override self-destruct mode on a TimeBomb missile to blow up an asteroid, is told that there are 100,000 possible 5-digit combinations. Of course, Alex gets it right on the first guess, with "1-2-3-4-5".* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: This has been the premise of the series for all four seasons, [[spoiler:but it was ultimately {{subverted}} in the GrandFinale. See ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem above.]]* ThisExplainsSoMuch: On Alex's belief that there are no rules if you're on an island:-->'''Harper:''' But you live on Manhattan Island.\\'''Justin:''' I know. Doesn't that explain a lot?* ThrashMetal: Justin is a fan of a metal band called ''Tears Of Blood''.* ThreeAmigos: Justin, Alex and Max. [[SiblingRivalry Sometimes...]]** Also Justin, Alex and Harper. See "Justin's New Girlfriend" as an example.* {{Tomboy}}: Alex, especially when explaining why she doesn't want a quinceañera.* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Alex and Harper, though Alex is more fashion-concerned than Harper (who may as well be a CosplayOtakuGirl).** The roles are switched in RealLife, Music/SelenaGomez (Alex) being the girly girl and Creator/JenniferStone (Harper) the tomboy.* TookALevelInBadass: ''Definitely'' Justin. In TheMovie, he saves Alex and Harper (while taking a moment to give off a well-deserved SmugSnake vibe), kicks ass windsurfing, nails the SixthRanger of the plot with magical blasts without even trying, does some adventuring that (with his brains) slips him into AdventurerArchaeologist territory, and throws down during the family wizarding competition like a true badass - a competition that later on, he's sure to win (having gone through a personal mix of CrazyPrepared and CharlesAtlasSuperpower in his training). One can only hope that they won't hit the ResetButton on him - but it is Creator/{{Disney}}, so StatusQuoIsGod.** Even before TheMovie, he has already gotten Alex out of trouble countless times, in spite of her [[{{Jerkass}} crappy attitude towards him]].* TookALevelInJerkass: In the episodes following "Wizards vs. Werewolves", Justin transformed almost instantaneously from a stand-up guy who was willing to fight to the death for his loved ones, into Alex's bitter, vindictive arch-rival. This seems to have been a temporary change, but Justin is still not as kind-hearted and noble as he was in Season 2.** The three siblings in the finale, temporarily. [[spoiler:They soften up towards each other once they work together to bring business to the sub shop.]]* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Mason is a werewolf. The promos try to be vague about it, but anyone with half a brain can put the clues together.** The Cablevision description for the episode "Moving On" is [[spoiler:"Harper convinces Alex to her transform into Juliet]] to help heartbroken Justin move on." For the record, the fact that Juliet [[spoiler:is actually just Harper in disguise]] is ''supposed'' to be a suprising twist.** The title "Future Harper" - three guesses as to who H.J. Darling is, and the first two don't count.** Rosie's an angel. Or, "She's an angel" as Justin put it in the promos as they showed Rosie with wings and advertised it as the first episode in the "Wizards vs. Angels" trilogy.* TrashTheSet: Though the destruction did not happen onscreen, in the final season [[spoiler:Alex's school]] was destroyed by an asteroid and [[spoiler:her graduation ceremony]] happened in the wreckage.** In "The Wizards Return", the reunion special, Evil Alex [[http://pmctvline2.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/wizards_alex_600.jpg burns the family couch]].* TroubledFetalPosition: Justin almost goes into this in "Third Wheel", although falling debris kept him from completing the pose.* {{Tsundere}}: Alex, Type A. Mostly uses The Taunt strategy, and her blatant insults towards Justin are what keep her from being full {{Kuudere}}.* {{Tuckerization}}: Executive Producer Peter Murrieta likes to insert his last name randomly into episodes, such as the name of a business on Waverly Place, and in the incantation for a spell. Also, the sub station is across the street from Greenwald's Hardware.* TwoferTokenMinority: Agent One is a black man in a wheelchair.* TwoTeacherSchool* {{Uberwald}}: ''Transylvania''.* TheUnfavorite: To be honest - Alex ''does'' bring it upon herself.** Max calls himself the "third favorite" Russo child in a very matter-of-fact tone.* UnfazedEveryman: Arguably Theresa, also Harper.* {{Unishment}}: Alex has a varation of this called "Alexment" which she uses to get out of trouble.* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Alex.* UnwantedHarem: For [[ButtMonkey a guy who is supposed to be a high-school loser]] (according to Alex), Justin sure seems to get a lot of action going on. Granted, they seem to be all of the ClingyJealousGirl type, but there were [[AllGuysWantCheerleaders the supermodels who played role-playing games]], not to mention the incestuousness that popped up [[NiceJobBreakingItHero when Alex accidentally had a genie make everyone forget that Justin existed]], and not only did [[IncestSubtext Theresa push Alex towards trying to date him, but Harper went away angry because she thought Alex had gotten him first]]. Lampshaded: by Justin who at one point lists them all and wonders why people think he doesn't date.** He also seems to be somewhat of a stud by Wizard World standards, having dated a centaur, a werewolf (briefly), and a vampire, all of whom seemed to find him resonably attractive. Not to mention attracting an angel, [[spoiler:although she initially only approached him in order to corrupt him. However, her love for him was enough to make her turn good eventually.]]* UptightLovesWild: Even without the [[IncestSubtext unfortunate implications]] that run rampant, this trope ''so'' defines Alex and Justin.* UrbanFantasy* VanHelsingHateCrimes: [[Film/WhenHarryMetSally When Justin, the monster hunter, met Juliet, the friendly neighborhood vampire]].* VersusTitle: Few of the episode titles start with "Wizards VS".* VictorGainsLosersPowers: Played straight with the Wizard Competition. Only one wizard sibling can keep their powers, so they have one to decide.** Jerry inverts this. He won the Wizard Competition, but since wizards are forbidden to marry mortals, he gave his powers to Kelbo (his brother, also a wizard) so he can marry Theresa.* VitriolicBestBuds: Alex and Harper, type 1. Alex and Justin, type 2. Alex spends a good portion of the time insulting or using the people around her and they either don't notice (Alex: Why don't you go start on my homework and I'll make some sandwiches?" Harper: "Oh, you're such a good friend!") or snark back. Recently Harper has begun to transition to Type 2, specifically in "Franken Girl" and "Monster Hunters".** Inverted somewhat with Alex and Laritate. they usually don't get along to well and constantly clashing though they do have there moments where they get along very well.* VolleyingInsults: Justin and Alex.* WakeUpFighting: In a season 1 episode, Justin wakes up Alex for a late magic carpet flying lesson, only to get punched in the gut.* WeaksauceWeakness: "The enemy of all magic" is...wait for it...''plastic!'' The VillainOfTheWeek even manages to take over [[WizardingSchool WizTech]] by filling the place with plastic balls. [[KryptoniteIsEverywhere Considering how ubiquitous the stuff is in the mortal world]], it's a wonder magic works at all.** Possibly justified in that magic is derived from natural sources, and plastics are a purely synthetic substance that doesn't exist in nature. It's a variant of RockBeatsLaser. Plastic's resistance to magic has been used elsewhere as well, such as ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch''. [[note]]Note that in ''Sabrina'', magic simply didn't work on plastic, as opposed to plastic actively cancelling out the effects of magic. The rules in the Wizards universe seem to be different though.[[/note]]* WeirdnessCensor: To the point where the characters can just cast spells in front of everyone.* WerewolfThemeNaming: Mason Greyback.* WeWantOurJerkBack: Alex in "Positive Alex", after her cheering for the other team caused her own school's cheerleaders and pep band to be banned from sporting events. Harper was especially not to happy about this.-->'''Harper:''' This is too much positivity, even for me.* WhatBeautifulEyes: [[http://oceanup.com/legacy/2009/05/26/david-henrie-selena-gomez-blond.jpg Justin's eyes]], as Harper points out. "You're staring at me with those eyes, I think I might faint."* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Every supposedly decent girl that Justin falls for - [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampires first Juliet]], and then, [[FallenAngel Rosie]].* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Whatever happened to Dragon? Lampshaded twice, once by Max and once by Zeke.* WhatHeSaid: Variation, Alex waves her wand and casts the same spell as Justin by saying "What he did."* WhoEvenNeedsABrain: Harper when Alex accidentally gets both their brains.* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Alex, to ''Hershel''.* WindowLove: Justin lets Juliet go with the mummy to save her life. Before being mind-controlled, Juliet "nose-kisses" Justin through the plastic exhibit glass. It was very adorable.* WizardDuel: In TheMovie this is how control of the family wizarding power is resolved. It's implied that at some point in the series Max, Justin and Alex will have to have a three way fight.* WizardingSchool: [=WizTech=], in the episode "[[CaptainObvious Wizard School]]".* XanatosSpeedChess: In "Franken Girl", Justin tries to Alex-proof his room. He's foiled by Max once and then by Alex three times, but eventually succeeds.* {{Yandere}}: Harper, towards Justin. Thankfully, she lost this trait before her interest in Zeke. [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} And he conveniently doesn't seem to remember]].* YouCanAlwaysTellALiar: ''So'' much of this show is [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids based around lies/lying]]. Alex in particular knows all about lies and how to spot one.* YouCantFightFate: Justin, Alex and Max will battle for the family's wizard power. The winner is the only one who gets to be a wizard, hence the whole serious SiblingRivalry.** Also, there's the children growing up to be (almost) like Jerry, Megan, and Kelbo.* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness:-->'''Justin:''' What's... what's going on?\\'''[[spoiler:Gorog]]:''' Oh, you'll soon see. [[spoiler:You brought me the Moral Compass]], so I'm done with you.* YouMustBeCold: In TheMovie, Justin offers his jacket to Alex in the infamous campfire scene. Given that they're ''brother and sister'', this only adds the UnresolvedSexualTension/WillTheyOrWontThey/RelationshipWithFumbleWriting/BrotherSisterIncest they're writing on. [[DefiedTrope She refuses the coat.]]* YoungestChildWins: How many people thought the series was going to end, with heavy hinting that way in the last season. [[spoiler:It has been averted, however. Alex, the middle child, wins, though the oldest Justin doesn't exactly lose.]]* YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb: Max and Alex are seemingly locked in ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' over who is the master of this trope.----